Staycation
by JannP
Summary: Rachel didn't want to come home from New York, but she's got quite the plan to help fight her boredom and celebrate her reunion with Finn.  Drabble/oneshot series set after season 2.  Finchel/Klaine and possibly ensemble.  Should be Rated M.
1. Day One: Making Time Out

**A/N: **I thought I would jump on the bandwagon of summery, drabble-y stuff. Because I don't have enough on my plate. Hope you guys enjoy! :)

* * *

><p><strong>Day One: Making Time Out<strong>

She comes flying into his room one day, like seriously moving so fast she's flying, and he doesn't really see her coming until she's knocked him down and she's sprawled on top of him on the bean bag chair thing.

Of course, the not seeing her coming part means she totally knocked the wind out of him and even though his hands kinda struggle for a second with the surprise of it all, they end up between her shirt and her back, rubbing against her skin and he thinks the rest of him should learn to catch up with his hands because that was _smooth_.

Which still doesn't explain why she jumped him in the first place. And where did the game controller he was holding end up?

"Hi," he finally manages and he looks at her. She's smiling brightly, her grin so hard it's creasing the skin on her cheeks and she's beautiful all the time but right now she's just so damn cute his mouth should catch up with his hands and do its thing by kissing her instead of talking.

His mouth is still listening to his head, so that's good news. He gives her a kiss and feels her body fold into his a little more. She pulls back.

"You're probably wondering what I'm doing here," she says easily.

"Well, now that you mention it…" he says slowly, but there's not much else he can say because even though they didn't have plans until later, it's never exactly a _bad_ thing when your girlfriend, jumps you. Like…._jumps_ you.

He's pretty glad he did that whole hip-check thing to race Kurt to the shower this morning so that means he actually got himself cleaned up earlier, like instead of having to wait for the thirty-minute, through-the-door lecture on the importance of sunscreen in a daily ritual. It may be summer and he might not have specific plans or anything, but just whatever—he still doesn't have time or energy to waste on that shit.

Anyway, that all still in no way explains what she's doing here. And he can tell by the way she's looking at him that her explanation is going to begin in less than ten seconds whether he's listening or not.

"Well, as you know, returning from New York was a huge disappointment for me."

"Hey, _thanks_. That feels good."

She tilts her head. "It got better the following Monday. But for me, going there and then being forced to come home was kind of like…" she looks to the side. " Oh! It was like getting sick five minutes into Thanksgiving dinner."

"I totally did that one year," he admits. "It really _did_ suck 'cause by the time I felt better there weren't even any _leftovers_ and—"

She smiles patiently and then just kisses him to shut him up. He remembers she's totally heard that story before. Probably more than once. What the hell ever, shut up, it was like a totally huge disappointment, okay?

"So then I started thinking about the summer with nothing to do and I really wanted to go back to New York but that is clearly not in our budget."

"We have a budget?"

Her smile falls for the first time, but she can't even muster up enough severity to reprimand him.

"Kind of my point," she says. "So we're going to do a staycation."

_Wh-what? That sounds stupid._

"I know," she admits. "The word itself is ridiculous and I promise you I won't say it out loud again."

Oh. Had he said that out loud?

"Regardless, I have various members of Glee club and our families on board with this and so the first thing we're going to enjoy about Lima today is… well, leaving it."

His brow wrinkles and his fingers drum on the soft skin on her sides by the small of her back.

"Really, we're just going to the lake. But I have something planned for most every day that will keep up close to home and avoid spending money we don't have but still give us some sense of adventure." She casts a glance over her shoulder at the television screen. He can't see it from where he's laying because she's there, but he doesn't mind because he would generally rather look at her anyway. "Outside."

"Okay," he says easily. Her eyebrows go up in obvious surprise.

"I thought you would put up more of a fight," she admits.

He grins a little bit. "Nah. I mean, I can play C.O.D. anytime and honestly, Puck needs to work on his shit-talking 'cause it all sounds the same."

She lets out a small giggle.

"So when do you plan on making out?" He asks hopefully—as in he hopes she plans on it since it's just a fact.

Her eyes meet his and hers are sparkling and he totally loves that about her. He thinks it might be on the list of reasons why already but he adds it to the bottom anyway. "Do we have to _plan_ that?"

She leans forward the barely tenth of an inch required to push her lips against his and his eyes slip closed and he feels her body mold to his again and if this is what's involved in a 'staycation', then he guess he's all over that even if sounds lame at first because this is _not_ lame.

He doesn't realize someone else is in the room until he hears knuckles meet door. "If we're going to get a day spot at the lake with any shade at all, we ought to get moving."

Finn leans his head up so he can see Kurt over Rachel's shoulder. His hands are still inside her shirt and she has woken his entire body up in a way that _should_be embarrassing when someone else notices, but he just doesn't even care. "We kind of already were moving. You should just come back later."

He can feel Rachel shaking even though her laughter isn't coming out of her mouth and Kurt scoffs. Win. Kurt only does that when he doesn't have another comeback.

"Rachel," Kurt finally manages in an icy tone. "I would like to remind you that you made a commitment to come with us today and, as part of that commitment, you swore on a Barbra Streisand marathon that you would_not_ make out in front of us."

"So close the door," Finn says, his tone crossing into icy. "Then you won't be able to _see_ us."

Rachel pulls back and tilts her head thoughtfully as she looks at him. "I did promise."

He looks at her and he knows there's not really anything he can deny this girl, especially not now because he knows what it's like to be denied _her_and he thinks he probably won't forget how bad that sucks anytime soon. At least, he kind of hopes he won't forget. Because not forgetting just means you don't need to be reminded, either.

"Uh-huh. And which day of our staycation is the B.S. marathon?"

"You already know I disapprove of that nickname," she says, even swatting at his chest for good measure. "But if everything goes according to plan, it's day twenty-seven."

"Do we get to make out during that one, too?" He asks. He rolls to his side in a way that kind of rolls her with him so they can both get up.

"Of course," she says easily. He helps her up off the bean bag chair and pats himself to make sure he stuck his keys in his shorts pocket this morning. He's pretty sure he's gonna end up driving them and he doesn't really care because when he drives, she scoots all the way over next to him, even if they aren't driving too far. And he loves it when she does that. He's adding that to the list, too.

"You know, you never let me finish explaining what this entails," she continues as he takes her hand while they're walking out.

He pretty much wants to touch her all the time because he missed it when it was gone- you know, the way you can just reach out or just sneak a quick kiss or reach out and someone is there to take your hand or whatever other shit those coffee shop guys sing about.

"I got time now," he says easily. "And we might _not_ have time to chat once Kurt gets in the car because once you guys get going—I just… you know I don't speak Broadway."

She looks over at him with a huge smile. "I will have you know Kurt is the one who suggested Making Time Out."

"What?"

"Well, it's kind of like timeout for children, only it's for being good and going along with your girlfriend's capricious whims every day for your entire summer vacation."

"Making Time Out—so that's making out, like, whenever we want?"

"Basically, yes," she admits. "Just whatever you do, don't let Kurt show you the chart."

"…the chart?" He asks blankly. Kurt and Blaine are already out in the driveway loading up his truck with chairs and stuff to take. So he moves to unlock the driver's side door and then helps her hop up. Really, what's the point in even bothering with the other door when they all know she isn't going more than about a third of the way over anyway?

"Oh, you're already asking for the chart?" Kurt says, sounding _way_ too happy about it. "I can go grab it, but the glitter isn't dry."

"_Glitter_?" Finn asks. "Nah, man. That's all right. We have all summer."

All summer. He looks at Rachel, who now has those huge, black sunglasses perched on her nose as she leans forward to fiddle with the old radio, and smiles. He can't wait to go nowhere all summer—as long as she's gonna be right there with him.


	2. Day Four: Cleaning Out My Closet

_**A/N: **You guys are awesome. Thanks for the support with this. I'm also posting it on my tumblr if you guys like that format better. My tumblr is lame, though, so feel free to ignore it and reply here. No, that's not a hint- that's practically begging. I'm not comfortable with drabbles and I need reviews to tell me how to do this better. So there. But thanks for your kind words so far._

_Oh, and just for clarification: I'm going to number these according to when they happen, not how I post them. So I've skipped three days of their summer vacation here and they're now on day four even though it's only the second post. I didn't just not post the in-between ones or anything. I might be a crazy writing machine, but I'm not turning this into a story with ninety plus drabbles. I just... no. My head would explode._

_**Disclaimer:** I don't own Glee or Not So Modern Drummer (it's totally real magazine, I'm not creative enough to make this shit up)._

* * *

><p><strong>Day Four: Cleaning Out My Closet<strong>

He's lying on her bed with a copy of 'Not So Modern Drummer' spread out in front of him. Kurt thought the magazine subscription would be a great joke and a huge swipe at Finn for not necessarily liking Top 40. Well, shove it, Kurt – he totally loves the vintage drum stuff. Even if it's all _old_ and _way before his time_. It's the kind of music he connects with and if he was going to collect anything (which is pointless and would just be more crap he'd have to pick up before Rachel came over and looked at his room with that _look_ like she wants to take a forklift to it just to make it livable even though it's _not _that bad. What? It's _not_. It hasn't been that long since they moved and his mom is still in the whole everything-is-new-and-has-to-stay-clean place) he thinks it would be drums or drum stuff.

Plus, it doesn't ruin his life to sit and read it while Rachel is cleaning out her closet. _How_ is this one of her staycation things? Like, really, how is he supposed to be enjoying this?

Her closet is fucking huge and he's pretty sure it's going to take all day; which means he has all day to re-read this and he's glad he brought the book for summer reading for English and it's, like, the first time in his life he thought he would ever think something like that. He needs to find a way to get her out of this house.

She comes out of her closet, tugging a garbage bag full of something. It's taking her some major effort and he wants to know, since she lugs that bag on wheels around the school, exactly _what_ is in it. He wonders if maybe that's where she's kept the bodies all this time.

Okay, not really a nice thing to think about your girlfriend. And she hasn't actually killed _anyone_, he's positive. He's just gonna point to the earwig she found about an hour ago. She made him _carry it outside_. Like, straight up, put it in a cup and take it outside. The cup was because he refused to touch it because those things are gross. He wasn't going to actually say that out loud, though, because she seemed creeped out enough for the both of them. But really, if she can't kill a bug—a nasty bug like an earwig, and yes, he shudders again thinking about the stupid thing—then he _knows_ even if she seems kind of angry sometimes, there's no _way _she's killed someone and hidden their body in a bag in her closet.

Plus, they ran into Santana and Quinn at the mall yesterday and those are the only two people he can think of off the top of his head who would be likely candidates. But now that he's on _that_, what the hell were they doing _shopping_ together?

Weird.

So Rachel is trying to drag this bag out of the closet and he jumps up. "Whoa, babe. Let me get that."

"It's okay, Finn. I think… well, I'm trying to decide if this stuff is for Goodwill or if I should take it downstairs."

"…don't think the museum needs more clothes," he mutters, wrapping the red plastic loops around his hand.

"Maybe we should clean that out while they're at work. It's embarrassing."

"Nah, it's _cute_," he corrects, leaning down to kiss the top of her head. "But, um…are we gonna be done here any time soon?"

She looks over her shoulder as they're heading downstairs (he _knew_ she'd keep it. She's not against donating things but her dads kind of seem to be, at least when it comes to things she's, like, _touched_ or _breathed on_) and her smile is totally cute.

"Sorry. This wasn't exactly the plan," she admits. "But my dads asked me to get this done and Blaine is starting his job today so they weren't free and…and…"

He's got the garbage bag slung over his shoulder so he has a free hand and he uses it to squeeze her shoulder. "S'okay. At least we're kind of hanging out together."

"And I appreciate your repeated, if not somewhat insincere, offers to help." She's still fighting the urge to smile and_ that_ smile might be his favorite one of hers. He has time to figure out which one is really his favorite, but the one where she's trying to hide her amusement is pretty awesome—maybe because it's the only thing about her that ever seems like she's holding back. Watching her _try _to hold anything back is like watching someone do the impossible.

"Well… I try," he says easily as they enter the 'Rachel Berry museum'. It's really a filing and storage room in their basement, but since most of the stuff there has to do with her, that's apparently what they call it and she kind of _hates_ it. But he can tell she loves it at the same time, at least a little bit. Anyway, she keeps refusing to let him look around, claiming embarrassment. Maybe _his_ goal for the summer is to score some time down here. Because she's pretty good about letting him_ score_ at least once a day, so that can't really be his only goal—even if, okay, it's his _favorite_ goal. Sue him.

She takes the bag from him and flips it into a corner with what looks like a sort of disturbing wrestling move. He already knows not to mess with her because she's actually way stronger than she looks and he wouldn't do that anyway because she's his girlfriend and he's kind of attached to all the making out they do, so hello, he's not a total idiot…but really, this just adds another layer to all that. Like, if that bag was person (and again, not that he _really_ thinks it could be, but it weighs as much as she does), she just totally owned them.

They go back upstairs and resume their normal positions. He's lying on her bed on his side looking at his magazine and she's, like, deep in the cave of her closet—that thing is _huge_—but this time is different when she comes out.

She isn't wearing his basketball t-shirt from sophomore year (that drowns her in the cutest way possible) and her yoga pants anymore, but he _does_ recognize what she's got on. It's the shiny red thing that looked just a little slutty (he's not complaining) from when all the girls sang Madonna. He had to try _so_ hard not to think about that thing for a long time, even after they performed. And here she is, standing in front of him, wearing it. _Working_ it.

"I don't know, Finn," she says, as she emerges from the closet. "I mean…I have a trunk for costuming. But should I keep this? I can't think of another way to use it."

His jaw flaps open. He wants to touch her really bad. Difference is, this time he _can_. And he _knows_ that's her point. Her flirting or whatever you'd call it has _never_ been hard to catch on to.

"I...um… I can think of a few ways. C'mere," he finally says. She gives him that _damn it's sexy as hell and you know it so stop trying to argue even in your own head, you retard_ smile and walks over to him slowly. He pulls her up onto the bed and she ends up falling on top of him and laughing a little bit.

"So is this your favorite outfit I've worn in Glee club?" She asks, tilting her head to the side as he presses his mouth to her neck.

People call him dumb. He's not dumb. He remembers every single thing she's worn and he _especially_ remembers the sexy ones. Sometimes he even remembers them when she's not anywhere near him. Sometimes he remembers them when—well, never mind.

"I dunno," he says. "There have been _a lot_. You might have to show me some more."

She pulls her neck away from his mouth, where his words danced across her skin and made her shiver. She's smiling, but it's not the sneaky one or the hiding one. This one is totally different and it's the one only he gets to see. _This_ one is his favorite.

Just for the record? The leather was _totally _his favorite. And it's the last one (of about six) she tries on before he tackles her and tells her she's in time out.


	3. Day Six: Partners in Crime

_**A/N:**__ Okay, so I jacked up my laptop and I think my updates are going to slow down a little bit, but I'm still thankful for the support and I hope you guys are enjoying this, even if I can't reply individually. Thanks to__** Paceismyhero **__for the idea. Anyone who has ideas they'd like to see for this series, PM me or put it in my ask on tumblr._

* * *

><p><strong>Day Six: Partners in Crime<strong>

He wonders if he should maybe start planning their activities. He watches her, wondering where she's driving even though she's refused to tell him. It's not like the refusing really stops him from wondering—it just kind of makes it worse. It's something they actually have in common and he wants to make her squirm. Dirty. Not like—okay. Whatever. He'll take the squirming however he can get it. He's man enough to admit it, too.

"Rach…"

"If you ask me where we're going again, you are just going to be extraordinarily disappointed when I refuse to answer—_again_," she says. Her tone is a little sharp but not much. "We're almost there, I promise."

"Did you bring snacks?"

"No. Blaine is bringing snacks," she answers without thinking.

"Excellent," he says. He can relax a little now, because when Blaine brings the snacks, he brings normal shit. Rachel brings baked goods, which are awesome in their own way. Kurt brings crap no one else can pronounce much less eat (except on a cracker).

Rachel looks over, her eyes only leaving the road for a minute to glance suspiciously before she recommits her focus. "Why is that excellent?"

He isn't going to tell her it's excellent because he knows a few things from her little slip. He knows Kurt and Blaine are coming. That itself is not a huge shock because most of this staying around town stuff has involved them. But what it means is this: Blaine basically planned whatever it is because Kurt has been too busy and so has Rachel. If Blaine plans and Blaine brings snacks, it means sports. Sports mean outside, and he's so glad he sat through that whole day of closet cleaning. Well, maybe the leather pants were a good reward for that.

He's pretty sure the car just got like five degrees hotter and he reaches out to turn the air conditioning up a little. Not that it really matters because they're pulling into the parking lot at an elementary school across town.

Once she's parked the car (and he has to admit that her focus on perfection is _never_ more clear than when she corrects her parking job like six times before she lets him undo his seatbelt), she turns to look at him. "Blaine thinks the two of you need to teach the two of us how to play basketball."

He gives her a two-dimpled smile. "Really? I mean… you think I can teach you how to play?" He asks.

"I think you can teach Kurt and Blaine can teach me."

He frowns.

"Because otherwise, you know we would just end up groping each other and this is something I _actually_ want to learn."

"Do I still get to call _time out_?" He asks pointedly. Her smile is just as good of an answer as her nod.

What he doesn't count on, though, or doesn't realize—is that he actually doesn't _like_ watching Blaine teaching Rachel how to play. He's always been totally comfortable hanging out with Kurt and Blaine, but watching Blaine's hands touch Rachel's hands or Blaine saying something with a smirk in Rachel's ear…it kind of makes him want to punch Blaine square in the nuts.

So when they divide up to go work on three-point shooting (which is not distracting him from Kurt's headband _at all_. Like, it's seriously powder blue and across Kurt's forehead and if his mom wouldn't kick his ass for it, he'd totally make fun of the guy. He means, come on. Sometimes there's someone just _asking _for it. And he wouldn't do anything douchey like dumping Kurt into a dumpster or attacking him with a slushy or…wait. Rachel has a case of water bottles in her car. And it _is_ hot outside. Maybe he should see what he can get away with), and it's his chance.

"Does this bug you at all? " He asks his brother in a hurried whisper. "I'm kind of…I don't know… I guess uncomfortable with Rachel and Blaine being on a team."

Kurt snorts and turns toward him, balancing the ball on his hip as he does and he shakes his head. "You're an idiot."

"That doesn't answer my question."

"I would be more bothered if Blaine was on _your_ team," Kurt says simply.

"My… how would you be more bothered? Like if Blaine was straight, he wouldn't even _be _here, so—"

"Your basketball team," Kurt says with a nod that plainly says oh-my-God-you're-stupid-how-am-I-depending-on-you-to-teach-me-anything. "I_ know_ Blaine isn't straight. Rachel is the one who helped remind him of that fact, so I'm oddly grateful to her. I guess."

Finn shakes his head. Maybe _that's_ his problem. He didn't really have the right to give a shit when she made out with Blaine, like in Kurt's lap and in his line of vision, and so now maybe he _still_ cares about it. He just doesn't know how it shook out because he wasn't really talking to her much at that point and because he felt a little bit like the world's biggest asshole when he told her she was clingy. It wasn't that he didn't like her hanging off him, it was that it was hard to keep being mad when she was touching him and he'd still felt mad and...well, whatever. None of that matters anymore anyway.

But last time, all their problems were caused by not saying something important. And what if this is something important he should say? Maybe he should say it now so it doesn't become something important that didn't ever get said. Not that he thinks they're going to have that problem again. He just learned something before, that's all.

"Okay, time out," he says. He's just going to go straighten this out _now_ so he doesn't have to spend all day feeling like crap. Kurt looks like he wants to say something, but Finn walks away before he gets the chance anyway. Rachel is just standing awkwardly, watching Blaine run after the ball after her last shot was a huge fail and the ball bounced kind of sideways and got away from them.

"Hey, babe," he says. He puts his hands on her shoulders as she turns her head. He can barely make out her eyelashes through the dark lenses of her sunglasses, but he knows the look in her eyes. "Let's take a time out."

Her smile is small, but her words are amused. "We've only been here for half an hour."

He nods. "I know. I just wanna tell you something. Let's walk." He kinda leans his head away from the basketball hoops toward the playground. "Please? Like this isn't a dirty time out. Unless you _want_ it to be."

She laughs but she goes with him and she holds his hand as they walk toward the car; he's not entirely positive she knows he's got plans for at least a dozen of those water bottles, but he won't bring it up now.

"So…I think we broke up before 'cause we were so bad at talking and so I want to say this and have you not think I'm a douchebag."

She looks over at him and her smile has faded and she lifts her sunglasses up into her hair like a headband, sending her bangs into all kinds of crazy, adorable directions. "Anything. I'm not going to think less of you."

"I'm considering tripping Blaine when we start our two-on-two because he's _touching_ you," he blurts out. He closes his eyes; he really doesn't want to see the look on her face.

But instead, her hand is on his cheek—like, resting there, not slapping or anything.

"I hated it when he kissed you, Rach. And now I'll always hate him 'cause he's kissed you."

"Want to hear a secret?" She says. She leans closer, so he does too. "I pretended I was kissing you."

And he didn't really want to hear that secret because it just makes him feel sad. Like, he knows how good it was they weren't together for a while and he knows now that he'd never take her for granted, and he _knows_ what it means that she's telling him that secret. It means she's doing what he's doing and they both learned something.

"Okay, that helps," he says honestly. He gives her a couple soft kisses because they're _that_ close and they don't have to pretend anymore and yes, basically, just 'cause he _can._ "Y'know what would push this over the top?"

"Hmm?" She asks, her eyes still closed because he's still kind of kissing her even though he's talking.

"Grab some water bottles out of your trunk," he says simply. He pulls away and gives her a smile that's attempting to be charming. "Do you have any balloons?"

Her smile is wide and she even gives him a wink. He thinks partly because she's in on the prank this time, and it's less like bullying because they're all friends here.

"No. I don't have any balloons, but it _is_ rather hot out."

And he's pretty sure she's the best girlfriend, the best teammate, and the best partner in crime he could ask for.


	4. Day Seven: All in the Family

**A/N: **Thanks for all the feedback with this story. I'm glad you guys like it and I'm personally enjoying how fast the parts go. This one is a little longer than I've been trying to keep them but not much. I'd still call it a drabble. Let me know what you think!

**Disclaimer: **I don't own Glee or anything related to it.

* * *

><p><strong>Day Seven: All in the Family<strong>

Of course they go bowling. That's the first thing Finn wants to plan. He told her once that he goes bowling when he's stressed out or frustrated and she doesn't know what he possibly has to be stressed out about. They didn't really go bowling last summer, even when he was working his ass off to pay for the tires he and Puck slashed. So she wonders why he's freaking out so much this time because on the whole, this summer has topped even _last_ summer and she used to think last summer was the most perfect one ever.

They don't have much 'staycation' time today between her summer dance class (she secretly loves zumba and she wants to invite Finn to dance it with her at some point no matter which part of her body he accidentally breaks next) and the family barbecue Kurt and Finn are supposed to attend tonight. It's Kurt's aunt hosting, Burt's younger sister and her family who live in Van Wert; they aren't so aware that Kurt has "come out"; Burt gently suggested inviting 'significant others'. Plus it'll be the first time outside of the wedding anyone has met Finn and Carole. Carole had pulled Rachel aside and confessed her worry and Rachel's glad they have that kind of friendship/parent relationship. Carole just wants the six of them to go as a 'family'. It's an honor to be included that way.

Maybe this is what Finn's nervous about.

Kurt is nervous in his own way and Blaine politely declined the invitation to join them for this bowling tournament (four games is certainly a tournament and she's starting to fear maiming. Her arm feels as though it could fall right off) as a result. It's kind of nice to just be a twosome and she's only admitting to herself she wishes it were in a more private location. Even if it was rather understandable when the water fight took a nasty turn yesterday and she ended up getting tossed in the community pool at the public tide. Technically she's still not speaking to Kurt—who knew he would be able to pick her up and toss her?—so that might make tonight a touch awkward.

Her ball balances precariously on the edge of the gutter and the bowling lane and barely clips one pin before it drops off the back. She walks back toward Finn, shaking her head.

"You really _are_ getting better at this," he says quietly.

She smiles a little; she's trying hard not to let her competitive nature get the best of her. Sometimes that even works out. "Yes, well…I _was_ getting better at this but I'm afraid that was approximately two games ago when I really hit my stride."

He nods and lets the sarcasm drop from his mouth, shocking her. "Yeah, your best moves are probably behind you."

So she gets her revenge by dropping herself into his lap and it doesn't seem like that's actual revenge on him because his arms wrap around her waist and hold her a little closer.

This cuddliness is the second way she knows he's nervous or upset about something. She presses a kiss to his forehead and he sinks into her a little, letting his arms go slack even if his grip does not. Her hands cup his cheeks because he's so hot she can't help herself and she mumbles against his skin.

"What's wrong, babe?"

"Nothin," he says easily. "Things are good, really."

She pulls back to survey him skeptically. "If things were that good, we wouldn't be bowling until my arm falls off."

He shrugs, guiltily she thinks. "Did you know, other than the wedding, this is the first 'family' thing I've ever gone to? I mean, my grandma always comes to us because we haven't had the money to go anywhere and my mom doesn't have brothers or sisters. Then…well, we haven't kept in touch with my dad's family much. My grandma and my mom said it was too hard when I was a baby 'cause I guess I always looked like my dad and…"

"Family events are endearing and annoying and they are just as awkward for everyone else as they are for you; I promise."

"Do you guys have a lot?"

"No," she admits. "Not since… well, Daddy's family doesn't talk to him because he's married to a man. Or living with a man; I don't think it much matters to them. And Dad is from Massachusetts, so his family is far away. You know that."

He sighs. "I never thought it might be easier _not_ to have family. It always seemed kind of lonely, but…but now even my mom is afraid and I didn't think she was afraid of anything, y'know?"

"I don't think she's scared, she just wants to make a good impression."

"Did you know she's been baking since Sunday and she keeps calling it 'holding auditions' like it isn't just a snack?"

She fights to urge to laugh a little, but only narrowly. "Finn, you are so many amazing thing and most of all, what you see is what you get. You are unpretentious and kind and it only takes a second of knowing you to see all that. You have _nothing_ to be nervous about because I'm sure they will love you."

"Like you love me?"

Her smile fades a little. His words are soft and they hit her right in the heart but she goes with honesty because what man doesn't like propriety?

"I really hope not," she whispers. His eyebrows dent like he wants to ask what she means, so she continues without giving him space to do it. "Because the way I love you _should_ be special; one-of-a-kind." Her eyes dance over his face and her hand is back on his cheek. "I want to love you better than anyone else." Her words are a scratchy whisper and she feels like she's baring her soul again; her selfish, selfish soul.

"Yeah, you do," he admits and kisses her because really, how can you _not_ kiss someone after they say something like that?

The real thing is he feels like a huge pansy. He's never been more relieved than when Burt suggested he invite Rachel to take the sting out of Kurt bringing a boy—just in case it's a problem. He knows Blaine wasn't sure he wanted to go, but he's going because he supports Kurt. And it's all because he's nervous to go to a barbecue?

He just wants his new family to like him, really. Like when all the other kids talk about their awesome cousin from Detroit or whatever…well, he'd kind of gotten used to the idea that he'd never have a brother or sister. Then it happened and it's pretty awesome. So more family might be more awesome. Actually, it's awesome and annoying at the same time but he wouldn't change it for anything because Kurt is generally pretty boss. And Kurt is _really_ good at Rachel advice and he needs a lot of Rachel advice, honestly.

She's complicated.

But so are families. And he's already learned that the hard way and he doesn't want to mess this up. It's kind of a running theme and he feels like he's under a lot of pressure, even when things are supposed to be fun. And the only thing that makes that better is Rachel even though he feels like keeping them together is the most pressure of all.

At least, that's only when he stops to think about it. Because normally when she's just there it's super easy. But then he starts thinking about stuff like how he wants her to be there for every family thing and if he has a family, there's gonna be a lot more family things and she's just gonna have to be there for all those. Because in his heart, she's part of his family and in some ways, she's the most important part.

And she's the most important part that keeps reminding him she's leaving and he's really far ahead of himself here because she's _in his lap_ and that seems like as good of a focus as any. So he knows he'll tell her all this stuff in his head eventually, because that's just how it's working out now, but for right now he just kisses her, feeling her hip press (not in a bad way) against him and feeling his body respond to her touch.

He knows she can feel it, too, and it's way different this time than last time they were together because she leans toward him a little as they kiss and, even though their hands aren't really wandering because, right, _they're in public_, it's one of the hottest time outs ever. They've made out way more this summer and their hands have started wandering and…well, he's not complaining but they might need to take this to the back of his truck. Maybe at the lake or something. Or he could move to a more private corner of the parking lot.

A throat clears and they don't jump apart like they used to, either. They love each other, they love kissing each other, and it doesn't really matter who knows it because it's not like they're embarrassed.

Rachel looks at his eyes, her slow smile spreading and proving she's thinking the same thing he is. Puck's voice cuts into their private moment anyway.

"Yo! Fancy meeting you losers here," he says, moving to sit in Rachel's empty chair on the other side of the table.

Rachel notices Finn doesn't tense up. Nothing about his posture changes at all, not even when they notice Quinn lingering a few steps behind Puck and when did _that_ happen, exactly?

Finn leans to the side just a little so he can see Puck around Rachel and smirks. "Yeah, I'm _never_ at the bowling alley. Especially not the last few months or so."

Puck gives a snort and flips him off, but doesn't retort and turns to look at Quinn expectantly.

"Hey, Quinn," Finn says easily. Rachel looks at him first but there's nothing to see except his open, trusting, and child-like facial expression. He's just at his default setting. There's no awkwardness.

"Hi," Quinn says, moving forward. "Are we_ really _doing this, Puck? I mean—are you serious?"

"Dead serious." He says. "And if Finn can get Berry over there to do this shit, I think that means _anyone_ can do it."

He at least shoots her a just-kidding wink.

"So whadd'ya say? You guys up for a game?"

Rachel and Finn look at each other and both give an easy shrug at the same time. They're up for a game. They're more than just a twosome and these two are more than friends—they're kind of like another family. A really, really fucked up family. But it seems they might be able to come back together just the same.

They just needed a little time, which is something they still have if they'll use it.


	5. Day Ten:  Rained In

**A/N: **Thanks to **Jen** for the beta-on-demand! You're awesome! Thanks to everyone for the reads, replies, reviews, feedback, input, reblogs, suggestions and just the interest in general. I hope this part lives up to your expectations! I have a lot of ideas for parts from many incredible people, but if anyone has more, feel free to PM or askbox me!

**Disclaimer: **I don't own Glee.

* * *

><p><strong>Day Ten: Rained In<strong>

"C'mon, babe. It's not that big'a deal. Let's just watch a movie," he says. He's kicked back on the couch and she's looking out the window again with a small frown on her face. Even though she's looking at the inside of the window well rather than out the window, her view to actual outside not great because they're in the basement, she's looking again for about the fifth time in the hour. He finds it cute she thinks she can actually change the weather just by looking at it a lot.

"I just want it to clear up so we can go for our walk. I had _plans_." She turns toward him and he tries not to laugh at her frown. "My dads used to do it all the time and I wanted to show it to you and now it's been raining for two days."

"Well, I'm usually up for anything that has to do with cash, but … it's been raining for two days and it's supposed to rain for at least two more."

She ignores the fact that _geocaching_ has nothing to do with money but there's something else she can't overlook.

"You looked at the weather report?"

Her surprise is obvious and, if he's being honest, a little insulting. However, she's snuggling against him on the super-comfortable new couch and he's too warm and happy to _really_ care.

"No," he says. "Kurt looked at the weather report and told me the glitter chart was ruined."

"The red stars he had to put in the boxes for the last two days were a little disheartening. I don't know why he even has red stars in the _first_ place. It's like he assumed we were going to fail and he just wants to record it for posterity."

He _does _laugh this time. He can't help it, all right? Her disappointment is so…so childlike. "I mean, he's kind of right, Rach." She raises her head from his chest to look at him with a deep scowl on her face and he continues quick because it's raining and pissing her off kind of cancels out the possibility of snuggling up under a blanket and kissing the day away. "I just mean when you're planning, like, two hundred activities, odds are something won't go the way you planned. It's no big deal. You just have to be flexible."

One of her eyebrows arches up and she looks kind of amused instead of kind of mad. _Score_. Maybe he should keep talking.

"Not that you have to learn much to be that way."

Her jaw drops and she raises her hand from his stomach to his chest to slap him softly. "_What_ does that mean?"

"What do you _think_ it means?" He asks with a laugh, catching her hand with his own and pressing a kiss to her folded knuckles. Just really… she didn't have to plan anything. All he wants to do is touch her. That's all he really ever wants to do. If he'd had a say, he would've left like fifty boxes just for that on the stupid glitter chart.

The chart is purple. It could be worse, he supposes. And it's not hung up in _his_ room, so that's another bonus. Even Kurt knows purple isn't a good color for a guy who's just getting used to not seeing cowboys when he opens his eyes.

"I should've known in the absence of actual constructive activity, you two would just be disgusting."

Finn smiles a little at Kurt's crusty tone and leans his head back. Kurt is still far enough behind them he can only see kind of hints that someone is moving around back there, even with his eyes rolled up as far as they'll go. But he knows his voice will carry 'cause Rachel said he has _excellent projection_. Whatever that means—she said it like it was a good thing so he's going to take it as a compliment and not get her started on possible microphone distortion in singing competitions again. That conversation was kind of exhausting and all he did was mumble his…agreement? Whatever.

"Do you really want to start with me? Because I think I have some video on my phone that could find its way onto YouTube. I have a few ideas for _tags_ that would make it super easy to find."

Kurt comes around the back of the couch and flops down on the other side of Rachel. "How do you misspell your own name on your homework but you can upload and tag a video on YouTube in under two minutes?"

"I have a gift," Finn says easily.

"You have _many_ gifts," Rachel says, pushing herself up against him and giving him a soft kiss.

Kurt rolls his eyes. "And I have a strong gag reflex," he says.

"Rachel doesn't…now _that's _a gift," Finn says. Earlier, he'd thought he was on the right track and he should keep talking. He's pretty sure that moment's over; in fact, it was over about five seconds before he let that little gem slip.

Rachel's face is buried in his chest and Kurt is just as purple as the glitter poster. At least Rachel is laughing, so it could be worse. He probably ought to change the subject – quick.

"So we should build a fort," he says simply.

"…how would we do that?" Kurt asks.

Finn rolls his eyes. Like of course neither of them know this sorta stuff. Neither of them had to entertain themselves with existing furniture and sheets for hours while their parents were at work. He's like _the King_ of blanket forts.

"Okay, go grab those spare sheets from my bed that we can't use but mom won't throw away. We need _all_ of them."

Finn gets up, and it's hard work to ignore Rachel's look of protest, but he manages; he starts pushing furniture into the proper position so the coffee table makes kind of a tunnel with the sides of the couch and then he pulls out the tall table behind the couch; that can be his and Rachel's bedroom. He takes all the stuff off of it, including the snowglobe and the picture frame with a picture of him and Kurt with their parents from the wedding, and all the other things his mom calls knick knacks or whatever and puts them on the counter in the small kitchen (it doesn't even have a fridge so he can debate how it's not really a kitchen for like half an hour, but his mom refuses to have that conversation again). Kurt is back with the whole stack of blankets and a look on his face like he isn't so sure about this. The look doesn't go away even after Finn has draped all the blankets and covered almost the entire living room in all kinds of tunnels and rooms using just the furniture plus the desk chairs from his room and Kurt's room.

Rachel looks uncertain, but she isn't watching him like he's stupid the way Kurt is. She's just watching.

"Is this… is this how you spent your summers?" She asks quietly.

"Yeah," he confirms. He stands next to her, hands on his hips, surveying his work. His and Rachel's "room" is separate from the rest so that seems kind of like a design flaw and kind of boss all at once.

Blaine's footsteps are thunder on the stairs and his huge smile when he enters the basement is totally unmistakable. "You made a fort?"

He looks over at Finn with awe and Finn is kind of glad he basically has two brothers because Blaine is totally the _cool_ brother. Blaine makes Kurt relax the way he makes Rachel relax and Finn is pretty sure they're the only reason the other two ever have actual fun.

"Yeah."

"Awesome," Blaine says. "Although…what's the separate room on the back? You're barely even going to fit in there."

He looks over at Finn expectantly and then Kurt starts laughing, which kind of shocks everyone.

"That's the time out room," Kurt says. Rachel laughs a little in response, and Finn thinks it might be dumb that it occurred to Kurt to call it that before it occurred to him.

The lights above their heads snap off suddenly, and the basement room is mostly dark even though it's the afternoon.

"Can we have a shadow puppet theater?" Blaine asks. He points to a specific area. "We can do it on the sheet ceiling over there."

Kurt rolls his eyes and links his arm through Blaine's. "I should've known. I guess we should go find some flashlights for _that_."

Once they're gone, Rachel starts pulling him toward the spot Kurt called time out. "What do you think, babe?"

"I think your imagination is impressive," she starts. "And we only have a few minutes to enjoy the time out room before they get back."

He smiles. "Yeah, I kind of thought of that as our bedroom."

"And where is Kurt's bedroom?" She asks as she kneels down on the floor to crawl inside and she's _totally _wearing a skirt and he knows this was an awesome activity for today because she's _wearing a skirt_.

"Um….upstairs. He doesn't have his own bedroom in _my_ fort."

She laughs as she drops down onto her back. He drops down right next to her and the space is tight enough that once his shoulders are down, she basically climbs on top of him and he kind of hopes their bedroom in their first apartment is this small so she always has to lay on top of him, even if that's all they're doing right now. Because for the record, he's okay with that being all they're doing right now. She's surprisingly easy to nap under.

There's nothing quite like a nap in a sheet fort with your girl on a rainy summer day while the power's out. But he's gotta admit, the shadow puppet theater _is_ a close second.


	6. Day Eleven: One Battle in the Tickle War

**A/N: **Thanks to Lizzie for the tweaking and Kenz for the reassurance. Thanks to everyone for the feedback and the replies and the suggestions. Keep it coming and know it's appreciated!

* * *

><p><strong>Day Eleven: One Battle in the Tickle War<strong>

The look on his mom's face when he asks is _priceless_. Like, he's not even sure he can come up with words for it.

"So you… my _seventeen_ year old son…who keeps reminding me that he's an adult and I can trust him to make adult choices… you want to have a sleepover in the blanket fort you built in our basement?"

He really appreciates her keeping the laughter out of her voice. She never just laughs at him and he's not sure she really knows he appreciates it a lot.

"Yes," he confirms.

"Okay," she says easily. "Who else is coming besides the four of you?" He opens his mouth to answer (because the thing is, they had a backyard campout planned before the rain kind of washed that idea down the drain—Rachel's words, not his), but she continues. "And you think Kurt is going to sleep on the floor and you won't have to schedule a day to listen to him complain?"

"I'll vacuum or something."

"Okay," she agrees. "Is there any way you can move this thing upstairs?"

He bites his lip a little bit, picturing the smaller, less used, and slightly less comfortable living room. "Well, I _could_. I mean, it's possible but it wouldn't work as well. And we wanted to invite Sam with his little brother and little sister."

Carole's eyebrows go up appreciatively. "Well, that sounds like a fantastic idea. I'm sure his parents could use the break."

"Yeah, it was Rachel's idea. I think her dads already offered to take them out for dinner and a movie or something."

Carole nodded. "Okay, well if it's more than just the four of you and the kids will be there, then I suppose it would only make sense to leave it all set up downstairs. There's more space."

He stoops down to kiss her cheek. "Thanks, mom," he says. He steals away quick to make all the text message notifications (or whatever, to have Rachel do it) before she can change her mind.

In the end, it's the four of them, Sam and Mercedes (what _is_ it with the crazy pairings anymore?), Sam's brother and sister, Puck and Quinn, and Brittany. Santana doesn't even bother to reply because, according to Brittany, she went somewhere with the Karofsky family; Lauren doesn't hang out with them _ever_, like even when she was dating Puck but she especially doesn't now that she's not dating him; Artie is out for a Halo marathon; and Mike and Tina are counselors at Asian camp again and will be gone right up until Mike has to come back to start football camp with Finn, Puck, and Sam. So yeah, it's still a full house even though a bunch of people aren't coming.

The fort is expanded, thanks to the addition of some dining room chairs and some folding chairs plus a table Burt uses for poker night on occasion. It's all draped over with sheets Rachel brought from her house, and he had to fight the urge not to tease her that it was the first time the sheets had come out of the package. He thinks she bought new sheets for this. Regardless, it now meanders down the hallway toward Finn's room and while he's setting it up, he wonders if they can just give the room behind the couch to someone else and keep his actual room for their time-out room. On one hand, that doesn't seem like a great idea. On the other hand, it's _totally_ a great idea. He wonders when he started being the one with all the ideas for their summer vacation. He's pretty sure at some point, if he really takes over, it's going to come back to bite him in the ass.

As such, Rachel is digging out games to put in each room and then swears she's planning to bake cookies for everyone. He isn't sure how she plans to do that since the power has been in and out for the last day but…whatever. He also doesn't want to piss her off by distracting her. He learned that lesson yesterday when she wanted to watch a movie on her iPad. They watched Singin' in the Rain twice.

Well…the movie _played_ twice. Whatever.

Puck and Quinn actually get there first, and even though they went bowling the other day, there is no denying how tense Rachel and Quinn get around each other. They don't shoot each other dirty looks or say anything, but that's just it. They refuse to look at each other and neither of them says _anything_. He knows they've always had their own issues or whatever—like, Quinn is not necessarily the _friendliest_ person—but he feels bad he's done that to them.

He pulls Rachel down into the room by the couch and on top of him.

"Relax," he breathes as she snuggles into him. Puck is busy trying to figure out what to do with the beer he brought (it's a backyard camping tradition since they were fourteen, but Rachel ordered him to get it out) so he and Quinn are gone for the time being and Finn knows Rachel will talk.

"It just…I just…" she stammers and he frowns. It's really not like her to be unsure what she's saying.

"I'm sorry. I kind of did this –I'm the one that made it all awkward. If I could take it all back, I would, Rach. You just…you believe me, right?"

"You told me there was value in that time for you," she says. "I know…I certainly wish it would've all happened differently, but I needed to remember who I am and where I'm going. And it will always be awkward with Quinn and I because she tried to push me into letting go and –"

"…wait," he says slowly. "She did _what_?"

"It doesn't matter now," she says. She presses her hand into his chest, giving her leverage to roll completely on top of him so she can look at his face. "Besides, she taught me not to look for a happy ending that might not exist."

His frown deepens and tugs his eyebrows down into his eyes, too. "I love how hopeful you are about the future…" he protests.

"I'm just more realistic now. That's all."

He sighs and, with his long inhale and exhale, her whole body rises up and back down and all he can do is watch. He was _just_ worried about her getting mad she couldn't be her control-freak self. Had she really changed _that_ much and he didn't notice? This is the opposite of a control problem.

"You dream big; there isn't anything wrong with that. Did she tell you there was something wrong with that? _When_ did this all happen?" He's so confused.

"It doesn't matter anymore," she answers immediately before she turns her head away.

"Rachel…"

"Everything is fine. Just…just don't worry about it."

"But I am worried now. What did she say?"

From the way he's looking at her, she knows he isn't going to give this up. And she doesn't put it past Puck to just leave the beer in the bushes outside and come right back. They do _not_ have time for this conversation if they want to keep any of it private.

"Basically, she said I don't belong here and I should focus on getting out instead of focusing on _you_. That's all."

He sighs. "Did she tell you focusing on me was a mistake and you should stop if you wanted to get it right?"

He knows he said the exact right words for once in his life and he kind of did it on purpose 'cause he thinks he's starting to catch on to the how and the when of it all. He knows because he can feel her body tense up and she pushes against him like she's trying to get away but he holds onto her hips and presses her against him.

Her voice is low and thin and makes him want to punch something. "She told me if I kept looking for the happy ending, meaning if I kept trying to earn your forgiveness and to be with you, I would never get it right."

She doesn't nod, but the look she gives him kind of does that for her.

"That's dumb. She didn't talk to me about any of that. And just like I never knew how she was feeling, she didn't know how I was feeling. I might've been mixed up, but God…no. Just no. You can have me and go after what you want because I'm not _going_ anywhere. Not again. I'm only stupid sometimes, not all the time. _You're_ what I want. I can just figure out the rest if you help me… 'sides I know your plans are basically already made so…"

She gives a small laugh. "Are you saying you would come to New York with me?"

He nods, his head rubbing against the carpet and his hands tightening on her all at once. "If you'll have me."

"Well, I_ want_ you," she says, her voice changing into something more breathless.

He raises his eyebrows. "You have me in time out and you're on top of me. Do whatever you want."

Her smile spreads across her face slowly and her eyes don't move. He thinks she's going to kiss him, but the next thing he knows, her hand has slipped under his shirt to trip over his bellybutton and he can't help it as his muscles start to shake under her touch.

She _would_ remember where he's ticklish.

He'll take what he can get though; besides, the back of her knees are ticklish and he'll totally get her back later.


	7. Day Twenty One:  Hooked on a Feeling

_**A/N: ** Okay, so this part is more like a one shot. I suck at drabbles, seriously. Oh well. And I'm upping the rating on this to M as a result of this part, so I'm sorry if that causes problems for anyone. Huge thanks to Lizzie for the line I stole and all the help in general. LYLT, baby. _

_**Disclaimer: ** I don't own Glee or anything/anyone affiliated therewith. _

* * *

><p><strong>Day Twenty One: Hooked on a Feeling<strong>

"Okay, just… just enough," he says simply, offering a hand to help her up off the floor of their living room fort. They've basically exhausted all the fun possibilities (her words, not his – he doesn't think it's even…like… okay, well, the whole fort concept is great for hiding out and that's kind of all he ever wants to do with her is just hide out and just be the two of them and… whatever. There's still a lot of fun to be had here, but she doesn't really seem to agree).

"What?" She asks, blinking a slow blink and looking up at him, even as she extends her hand.

"Moping around is just not _you_," he says. "I know your plans are all shot to hell because it's been raining for two weeks, but I'm just taking over now okay? Watching you be all sad and mopey is kind of ruining my life."

She raises an eyebrow as he easily jerks her up off the ground. "I'm not being all sad and mopey," she protests. "I'm merely expressing disappointment in the lack of cooperation of the one thing I cannot control."

They're already walking up the stairs and into the kitchen. Kurt is reading the newspaper and drinking…coffee?

"What the hell?" Finn says. Rachel looks like she's thinking the same thing but he said it well enough.

"Tea," Kurt says simply. "And he's right. You're being sad and mopey. It's why I came upstairs in the first place. It's unbearable to see you sad—like watching a Care Bear having its stuffing slowly removed until all that's left are the—"

"—whatever, dude. I can't believe they accused _me _of having issues when that's the way you describe things."

Kurt smirks. "I'm far more mentally balanced than you were post-Rachel breakup," he comments lightly as he picks up the mug and presses it between the fingers on both hands.

Rachel looks over her shoulder with something between more sadness than she had on her face before and something like amusement.

"Okay, well we're gonna go do one of my favorite things. Wanna come?" Finn says, giving Rachel's hand a small squeeze but keeping his eyes on Kurt. He _did_ want it to kind of just be the two of them, but he knows Kurt has been abandoned by Blaine for the last couple days because Blaine's working. He'd feel bad (sort of) leaving him behind (okay—not entirely).

Kurt's nose crinkles; he can _only_ imagine what Finn's 'favorite things' might entail. The last one led to him _sleeping on the floor_.

"No thank you," he says simply. "I am going to clean the house from top to bottom though, so please stay gone unless you intend to help."

Finn nodded. "Yeah, house cleaning isn't really on the to-do list," he says. They're through the kitchen now and Rachel is reaching out to open the front door. "I guess call me if you want help though."

"I won't," Kurt says. "Have fun!" His voice trills on the last word and Rachel kind of tosses a wave over her shoulder even though Kurt can't see.

Twenty minutes later, they're in the former parking lot of the now-demolished grocery store that burned down two years ago. The structure has long since been torn down and the area where it stood has been roped off with a chain-link fence and woven through with yellow 'caution' tape, but the parking lot still remains. Kind of. It's full of potholes and weeds and covered over with a fine layer of dirt (now mud in parts and washed away entirely in others).

It's the perfect place, and she's the only one he'll ever tell that he comes here to do this.

"Am I missing something?" She says from her seat in the middle of the truck. She's only wearing a short-sleeved zip-up hoodie and she's rubbing at her arms a little even though they've turned on the heater. The heater. In June. _Seriously, weather. Screw you_.

"No," he says. He turns awkwardly in the seat. "You know how I keep telling you I'm not cool? And then I prove it?"

She can't help her smile. He _does_ do that, but she doesn't feel as though his childlike enthusiasm is anything more than contagious. She appreciates a good dose of optimism and there are already several examples from this summer of how he's changed her perspective in some simple and unforeseen ways. She's certain this will be another to add to the list. "How does that explain why we're in an abandoned parking lot…" she leans forward to look out the windshield, and surely enough, the clouds are low and more the same, dark grey color. More rain is impending. "…before the rain starts dumping buckets again?"

His smile is small and really just half of a smile, but it answers hers all the same. "Because the start of the rainstorm is the best time for puddle jumping."

Her perspective changes, right on schedule. Instead of seeing a dilapidated parking lot, she sees big puddles she wants to beat him to so she can soak him before she gets soaked. She sees the Umbrella and Singin' in the Rain mashup brought to life and without the protective outerwear.

She sees being a little girl and stomping reflexively in puddles only to be asked kindly to knock it off by a father in a business suit who didn't want to get soaked. She remembers the disappointment and how, in spite of being the perfectly-groomed little princess, she just wanted to get a little dirty then.

This is her chance to do some damage, and she knows that not only will Finn _not_ care, he'll probably be racing her to the puddles and trying to splash her first. _Game on. Bring it, Finny D._

They jump and splash and play for at least two hours, by the end of which they're both absolutely soaked and totally filthy. Sure, Rachel's jumps never resulted in splashing any higher than his waist (and she got herself in the face a couple of times), but what she couldn't cover the rain managed. Neither of them notice the difference once it unleashes, but eventually she sneezes and he promises to get her home and dry her off. He'd already put a couple big towels in the truck and in the end, he wraps her in both of them and drives to her house with the ends of his hair still dripping, her fighting and insisting he take a towel the entire way.

Without much thought, they shuck off shoes and socks in the tiled entryway to her house and go upstairs to the bathroom adjoining her room and begin peeling off their wet clothes.

Somewhere in there, it occurs to them both what they're doing; probably the biggest surprise is how it's not _weird_, like not even a little bit. The cold finally catches up with him. When he shivers, she suggests they spend the rest of the afternoon underneath her thick, down comforter.

Well, of course they silently agree making out is the best way to warm up. When her hand drifts down his bare chest and rests underneath his belly button, curiously toying with the hair there, he wraps his hand around her wrist.

"We don't…we don't have to fool around," he says simply.

She tips her head up, her chin resting on his chest, and looks at him curiously. "Can we, though?"

"You want to?" He asks; she nods. He blows out a breath. "Okay, then I have to tell you something first. There's something I never told you about before because it's…it's just so…" his eyes close and his face is turning a little bit red.

"You're embarrassed that I want to touch you?" She asks. She tries to pull her hand away from where it's resting but he won't let her.

"Not, um… not exactly." And God, what was he thinking? He can't exactly tell her about this because he already feels like he wants to die and he hasn't even said the words yet. "Do you remember… the whole thing with the guys picturing Coach Bieste to cool off while they were making out with… and I told you I didn't do that?"

"I remember," she says. She's still waiting patiently and he's not sure he's loved her more than right now when she's keeping the smirk off her face and her voice isn't teasing him.

"Well…I didn't lie, but I…well, there was something _else_ I did 'cause I needed to so I didn't just…"

"I'm sorry," she says. She squeezes her eyes shut. "Can you just say it? I don't understand."

He lets out a frustrated breath. Her hand is so close to his erection that it's like he can already feel her touching him and even though he's completely embarrassed, it's like the hard-on that won't die. He _wants_ her to touch him. Like, he _really really _does. And he almost can't believe she wants to, too.

He lets all the words out in a rush. "I have a problem where sometimes I just…" his eyes fall closed. _God, he can't even say it_.

She tilts her head. He feels the movement and opens one eye to suss out her reaction but the look on her face hasn't changed at all. "So…" she finally starts. "So you lied about not picturing your football coach?" She doesn't sound mad or like she's laughing at him. She sounds confused.

"No," he says. His arm around her back tightens a little. Her fingers are tickling at the hair around his belly button and it's keeping him steadily turned on. He's pretty sure he'll last all of about two seconds if she actually touches him. He keeps his eyes closed and quickly explains how he almost killed a postal worker. It leads him automatically into talking about how it's been a _long_ time and Quinn never touched him like that so even when they _did_ make out, he never had to worry about it and how he's super nervous because he's pretty sure Rachel turns him on more than anyone in the history of ever and…he doesn't think he's ever talked continuously that much in his whole life. He's also not sure she's gone that long _without _talking in her whole life.

"So when we kissed the first time, you ran out in a hurry because I…just _kissing_ me made you…"

"Come in my pants," he agrees quickly. And then he's back to feeling like he wants to die. She has a way of getting him to just admit things and then he immediately wants to kill himself. "So if you _don't_ want to deal with that and you don't want to…"

"Do you want me to have feel good and have fun, too?" She asks, the question quiet and her eyes burning all the way through him.

"Yeah; definitely," he says immediately.

"Then we'll figure it out," she says. "Maybe we'll just have to try a lot of different things." His grip on her wrist loosens in surprise when she says it and it gives her just enough slack to drop her hand suddenly. "But you'll…I don't know how to touch you like this. Will you teach me?"

His eyes are still closed, his heart is pounding like it might beat right out of his chest, and he can't remember how to breathe. His boxer shorts are still on, sure, but they aren't much and he can't help how his hips move and thrust right into her palm. Her hand curls around his erection, cupping him tightly and giving him some resistance to rock against.

"God…_Rach_…_shit_." He's so surprised by all of this there's really nothing he can do and he can't think of _anything_ fast enough to stop the orgasm from slamming into him. She gives him a little squeeze as he comes and he's pretty sure he's never going to actually _stop_ coming as long as she's touching him like that. There's nothing he can do but lay there and feel lost in the waves washing over him while he's muttering her name and kissing the top of her head.

He knows she's watching him catch his breath and it takes a long, long time before he feels like he can open his eyes. He smirks at her. "Well that wasn't…I didn't…"

She just kisses him and all he can think about is the next time they can do this…and he kind of wonders if he can make her come undone like that, too. He already got her to relax about the weather.

"So now I guess we should figure out what I can do for you," he says simply, not pulling his lips away from her. "But I haven't done this either, so…"

She pulls back with a scowl. "Really?"

"Really," he says, pressing into her again. He's half on his stomach, half on top of her. He wonders if his fingers around her belly button is a good place to start, since it got him going so much. She wiggles underneath him and he slides his hand down between her panties and her skin. He hesitates just a little, feeling her free leg moving restlessly. "Do you want me to?"

"I just… what if…" she squeaks out. She's breathing hard and her hand is digging into his shoulder.

"We don't have to," he says. He leaves his hand where it is.

"What if it's weird?" She asks. "What if it doesn't…I mean… does it feel good to…"

He presses his lips against her collarbone and then her cheek. "What you just did? Probably my favorite thing, even more than puddle jumping. If I can make you feel the same way, it'll be even better. But you have to relax."

She looks at him with wide brown eyes. He stares back until he can feel her breathing ease a little bit. Her free leg relaxes and he presses his hand down a little further. Her breathing speeds up again but in a totally different way and it's just…it's so wet and so warm and… he's already totally turned on again. She's going to kill him. Straight up, he's going to die.

In some ways, he's seen plenty and he's _heard_ plenty about this kind of stuff, but he's knocked off guard as he watches her face and hears her gasping breath when he pushes a finger inside her. He moves slowly even though she's so wet he has to _try_ to go slowly. His thumb is lined up and he starts moving in slow, gentle circles. Even if she can be forceful sometimes, he knows he shouldn't be forceful with her.

He can feel how tense she is... _from the inside—shit—_and he actually has to remember the mailman. She just barely rocked his world and he's so wrapped up in her he has to… whatever, he just needs her to stop thinking. He wants her to enjoy herself as much as he did.

"Relax, babe," he says into her ear. He rubs against her thigh, the friction actually giving him a little bit of relief, and he slides his finger out of her slowly before he pushes back in. She's not listening and it's not like he can give her _advice_. He just hopes if it actually hurt she would say so. Instead, he thinks maybe now is a good time to remind her of something important. "Don't think. Just…just…I love you…okay? Nothing else really matters. Just I love you."

She breathes out and takes his advice, melting into his chest and he presses just a little harder. Her fingers dig into his shoulder. He leans his head down on the pillow right next to her face. He can feel her trying to move her hand off his chest, he's sure it's uncomfortable, and he moves just enough she can slide her arm around his back. Then he's pressed right next to her again, watching her closely. He doesn't really know what to try, doesn't know what she _wants_ him to try but at this point, he knows he'll do anything. This time, when he's pulled his finger all the way out, he presses another finger in with it. She's so tight, so warm, and she's moving her hips a little bit so he follows the rhythm she's setting even if he knows it's not at a regular pace. He doesn't care.

This is probably going to fuck up his drumming because this is a new rhythm he could get used to.

But about three seconds later, her mouth opens and she stops moving but he can feel her moving, like, from the _inside_ and… he gets totally lost in the look on her face. She doesn't really say anything, doesn't make a single sound. It's honestly the opposite of what he expected or how he thought this kind of thing would go and he wonders if that means he sucked it up somehow.

It's like a hundred years later when she rolls away, but it's just another second before she settles into him.

"Are you…" he starts to ask.

"I…I'm sorry I can't just relax. You probably wouldn't have to talk someone else through it the same way."

He kisses the back of her head and lets his hands dance over her bare stomach. "You… Rach… you're perfect. Just please don't… I mean—did you…"

"I think that feeling is going to be addictive," she cuts in quietly.

"Yeah," he agrees. It's how he always feels around her, so it's not like he can disagree, really. "We need to make sure today has a gold star on it on the chart, even if the weather ruined the other plan. 'Cause today's totally a gold-star day."

Again, she's quiet, but she snuggles a little closer and he knows that's her way of agreeing. And for Rachel Berry to admit it's a gold-star day while the rain is still falling, well…that's really all he needs right there.


	8. Day Twenty Seven: Bunch of BS Marathon

_**A/N:** Thanks for the crazy support for this story. I'm sifting through ideas as quickly as I can and I hope I will please everyone with suggestions. Keep 'em coming. Mad props to Jen (**wants2beawriter**) and Laura (**tjcrowfoot**) for their massive assistance on this part. Jen, you know which line is for you. And also your help is invaluable and this part would not be here without you. And also, it would not be working on three parts of this story without you, so y'know. Part blame and part credit. Haha! _

_Also, I've embraced the fact I'm not cut out to write drabbles. This is going to now be labeled a collection of drabbles and one shots. Because this drabble clocked in at 3100 words, which it's about three times the length I was going for. _

_**Disclaimer:** I don't own Glee, Barbra Streisand, The Mirror Has Two Faces, The Owl and the Pussycat, or Meet the Fockers. This is my sand, but I definitely don't own the sandbox. _

* * *

><p><strong>Day Twenty-Seven: The Biggest Bunch of B.S. Marathon <strong>

She feels him moving underneath her, but it's more like he just can't get comfortable. They're lying on the sectional couch in the Hudson-Hummel basement and Kurt took the chaise lounge. Blaine is sitting on a regular cushion but he's propped his feet up on the lounge and the other two have long since stopped watching the movie. Their heads are tipped back on the plush cushion behind them and rolled toward one other; they are at least keeping their conversation soft—well, except the time(s) Kurt voiced his opinion that Owl and the Pussycat might not have been the best starting movie because it's not the best _movie_, period.

She kissed Finn on the cheek for launching a pillow at Kurt and telling him to shut his trap.

So he's moving underneath her and she can't really tell what he's doing when she's laying half on-top of him, so she tries to sit up and then lets out a surprised squeak when he swiftly presses her right against him.

"Where d'you think you're going?"

His voice is a low growl in her ear and so when she looks up at his face, her gaze is half-lidded and it's all she can do not to sigh at the feel of him, warm and solid beneath her.

And ever since last week when things took an unexpected turn, it's like she can't get enough of the feeling of him warm and solid beneath her or on top of her and she wonders if there's a blanket in the house big enough to hide them so they can both continue the movie marathon and continue making out at the same time. She feels wanton and sexy and she never thought of it as a good feeling until he made her feel that way.

"Umm…well… Kurt didn't want to watch this so I thought about putting in the next one."

"What's the next one?" He asks; after he looked and _Meet the_ _Fockers_ wasn't on the list, he kind of tuned out. He _knew_ it was a BS movie but he didn't really expect her to include it because she doesn't consider the movie real unless BS is singing.

"The Mirror Has Two Faces," she answers. "It at least has a Bryan Adams song in it so maybe it will hold your attention."

"How can a mirror have _any _faces?" He says in her ear again and she can't help it—she totally presses her chest against him and even just that, the layers of cotton rubbing between them, sets her on edge.

"It's a metaphor," she says simply. She lets in a shaky breath even as she feels his cheek move against hers with his smile.

"Those are important," he says, letting his hand wander.

"Okay, I'm totally overriding the fact that you two are permanently attached by your nether regions and putting in the next movie," Kurt says. He does just that and they mostly even manage to pay attention for the first hour. Seriously, Finn only puts his hand up the back and the bottom of her shirt and he only tries to unsnap her bra a couple of times. She only licks and nibbles along his jaw and sticks her tongue in his ear once to get him to stop trying to unhook her bra. On the whole, they actually pay attention to the movie and he's ready to complain that he hasn't heard Bryan Adams singing once yet when he realizes what's _actually_ going on.

The woman on the movie is changing herself for her husband. And she wants to have sex but he doesn't and he's gone and… what the fuck is the matter with that guy?

Finn's felt like sex ruined his life before, specifically sex with Santana and then sometimes even when _other_ people had sex. Like, he felt like dirt thinking Rachel and Jesse had done it, but it was extra special and gross dirt because he had _no room_ to say anything about it. And then she admitted they didn't and even though he'd sort of known, it still put a lot of pressure on him—and not just because he was a liar. Because he knew then, knew even before then, Rachel was _really_ the person he wants to have sex with.

And she's sniffling and watching and she said once something about 'identifying' with this movie and he wasn't sure what she meant 'til now when he's watching it. He's never felt like a movie was telling his life story. In Varsity Blues, the football team was actually good. In anything with a comic book character, there are always some sort of special powers and there's no way he has those, even if he still thinks the only kind of spider bite that would be _cool_ is the one Peter Parker got. In porn, there's just…yeah, there's no way. No way that's his life and even the little bit he's gotten in real life from the real girl that's curled up on him is _way_ better anyway.

So how can she _identify_ with this crap? Does that mean she thinks she's ugly and no one wants to have sex with her? Like she thinks maybe, picking the guy who's damaged 'cause his ex is a cheater who was pregnant and scared the shit out of him by making him think he was gonna be a _dad_, is like picking the guy who doesn't want to have sex? Is that what she meant? She thinks she needs to change herself before she's worth having and… it's just _wrong_.

Finally, he sits up, going slowly enough she doesn't get hurt in the process, and he is still even kind of touching her and slowly pulling away.

"This movie is _garbage_."

She looks at him all confused. Her once-neat ponytail has relaxed a little from the times her head rubbed against his shirt and she's dressed all casual, just wearing her old Team Finn t-shirt that has paint on it now 'cause she doesn't wear it like a normal shirt and a pair of shorts from her dance class and she's so beautiful he just can't believe she doesn't _know_ that girl in the movie isn't her.

"How can you say that? She's…she's doing everything she can to feel confident in her relationship and…"

"He's an asshole for even asking her to be okay with not having sex."

Her eyes narrow. "Sex is _not _the most important part of the relationship."

"No," he agrees. "It's not. But it's still important. Like the physical stuff just…it should just make something that's already great into something awesome and you don't think I don't want to have sex, right? 'Cause that's just…it's just crazy."

She shakes her head a little bit and neither of them notice when Kurt and Blaine turn the movie off and keep watching warily.

"No, it's _crazy_ to base a relationship on sex. I completely agree with what he's trying to do, even if his methods seem strange." She drops her gaze. "And I also understand the trade that she's willing to make because sometimes, especially when you aren't the prettiest or the most perfect girl, you're willing to settle."

His eyebrows shoot up in disbelief. Like, their disbelief is even separate from his own because his own is just _so_ big. "And you think…you think you're _settling_?"

"I think I have the better end of this deal," she says simply. Her eyes are looking down, studying the grass-green fabric of his t-shirt and staying far away from his face. She's kneeling back and her hands are fooling with the hem of her t-shirt as she mumbles the words. And he doesn't know how it's possible she can seem so confident and so amazing in front of _other_ people when this is really what she's thinking. He knows how he does it, but it's not like he wants it to be the same for _her_. It's just really… life is just not fair.

Neither of them notice when Kurt and Blaine leave after she says this and Blaine has to basically push Kurt out of the room because he's going to jump in and tell Rachel how stupid she's acting instead of letting Finn do it. It's more Finn's job.

"Rach…" he breathes. He takes her hand. "Look, I know I made mistakes before. I should've…" he shakes his head and squeezes his eyes tight. "There's a lot I should've done different. I can't really change it _now_ except if I just…" he sighs. He reaches out to tilt her head up by the chin and she's very slow about moving her eyes to look at him. "There's so many nice things I can say about you, and I know it doesn't matter because what I say doesn't change how you feel. At least, when I say _nice_ things it doesn't change it. But what if I don't really have any bad things to say, either? That has to count for something."

She swallows hard and keeps looking at him, but she doesn't say anything. So he keeps talking, just waiting to stick his foot in his mouth because he's pretty sure it'll happen eventually.

"I told you I think you're beautiful—in front of our whole class and _my girlfriend—_and you didn't listen. Shit, you didn't say _anything_ about it. And I can't…like I can't be…I can't fix the way you feel about yourself because I guess all you hear is the bad stuff I've said before no matter how sorry I am. So…like… how… what…"

And yeah, he's done. Obviously.

She waits a long time before she actually talks. She wants to say this right because she knows she sounds whiny and stubborn and all those things she was once okay being but now…it's like she doesn't have the energy to be that with him. She doesn't _want_ him to have anything bad to say. She wants to be the kind of girl who doesn't give him that ammunition because she's not a bad person. She's trying hard to strike a balance between herself and who she wants to be. So she takes a minute. And it still comes out all wrong.

"Why… you haven't tried to have sex with me? It seems as though you aren't particularly interested there. I know you love me, Finn. I know you understand who I am and I know you care; it just doesn't seem as though you have any sort of drive to be intimate with me." She sighs and she can feel tears starting to gather in the corners of her eyes. "And I don't understand. Because you talked trash about grinding with Quinn in the Celibacy Club so I know you guys fooled around. And you had sex with Santana when you weren't even in a relationship at all. God only knows what you and Quinn did _this_ time around."

He kind of thinks he might explode and _not_ in the good way. He feels like maybe this is the same Goddamn conversation they had that broke them up in the first place. And it feels a lot like last September when they came back to school and she slutted up and roamed the hallways. Like didn't she learn anything from that? 'Cause he learned a bunch—and not only that she's seriously fucking hot because he'd kind of already known. But seriously,_ c'mon Universe. Throw him a bone here._

"You're proving me right. There's nothing I can say here," he says. He backs away from her and stands up. She stays kneeling on the couch and as he rests his hands on his hips, he knows he'd rather have them on _her_ hips and he'd rather be joking around about her bra and whatever else right now. Anything that didn't involve seeing red would be great. "I think it's more than obvious I _want_ to have sex with you and it's more than obvious neither of us are ready because we've already had this frickin' conversation and look where it got us before."

"And where is that, exactly?" She demands, her eyes roaming the column up to his body and she's not sure… well, there have not been many times he looked this unsettled. And she's not sure she can sit through another discussion of the minutiae of their breakup.

"Well, it got me being asked to choose between football and _you_ and you dressing like a hooker at school." He shakes his head and he really wishes he could _not_ remember creepy Jacob ben Israel's offer of his parents' house in trade for Rachel. She said back then she got it. She sang him a song and he got it. But really, if she's _so_ happy with him, why isn't she happy with herself? And why is she always bugging him about the sex with Santana? He wishes he could unfuck Santana, but that's just not possible; basically everyone knows that's how he feels.

"_Oh," _she says, sounding like that caught her off-guard. And in fact, it did. She's relieved he didn't go to the bad retaliatory cheating as she thought that might be a go-to point for their fights in the future. However, she's a little unnerved that he reached back further than that to something _else_ she thought was resolved. "I'm not going to give you an ultimatum this time."

He drops his head and shakes it as he grunts in frustration. "_Good_. But that's not the point. The point is how could you possibly think I don't want to have sex with you? I'm, like—a guy. With two eyes in my head. And you're like—a girl. With hot legs and short skirts." He sighs. "Sorry if I'm trying not to be a total asshole about it because I _care_. And maybe, _just maybe_, I want to have sex with you more than once so I'm pretty worried about ruining the first time. 'Cause in case you haven't noticed, that's what happened with Santana and I don't even think she's super hot anymore because she's the world biggest bitch. And Quinn… well, we didn't do anything either."

"She had a hickey," Rachel protests softly. She's still not looking at him. She doesn't want to act like a puppy who just got kicked but she doesn't want to look at him either. She _really_ doesn't want to be fighting with him.

"So what?" He defends. "That means I sucked on her neck."

"I _know_ what it means."

"How can you _possibly_be all bent out of shape about that?" He asks. "Like, seriously. Just…I don't get it. I _just_ told you I can't even control myself around you. And I _told_ you I didn't really have that same issue this time with her."

She cocks an eyebrow. Everyone remembers how Quinn made him believe he got her pregnant. It's obvious at some point it's been an issue. Rachel just doesn't understand why he doesn't see that. "This time," she mumbles with her head still looking in her lap. "Look, there are just these fact I can't ignore, okay?"

"Facts," he repeats flatly. "Like what?"

"Like I'll never have a chest or height like Brittany or a nose like Quinn or just… _anything_ curvy and sexy like Santana; those are all just facts." Her sigh is small, but he knows it's there before she even breathes out. "And it's a fact that, without those things, there's no way someone like you would actually ever want to have sex with someone like me."

He can't…he just…his jaw flaps a couple of times and he just _stares_. Like there are no actual words in his brain. And she's probably waiting for him to have a comeback and on one hand he should say _something_, but on the other hand… on the other hand, he's going to yell. And he wants to find a chair to kick over. He should probably just walk away. There's a punching bag in the corner of his room he just got for his birthday and maybe it would be better to take out this epic frustration there instead, but she's still waiting and now she's staring at him and she's all…like… what's the fucking word? He still can't remember words.

"Are you… what kind of crack are you _smoking_?"

He wishes words were, like, things you could _touch_. Because if he could touch them, he could reach out and snatch them back out of the air before that look hit her face and before her jaw went all hard and before she stood up. The last time she had that look on her face, she slapped him. And she slaps fucking _hard_.

Her eyes shift from him over to the doorway and before he can understand what's going on, really, she's apparently looking at Kurt. He turns and sees Kurt and Blaine standing with big eyes in the doorway and like neither of them really know what to say. _Welcome to the fucking club, guys_.

She's barely holding herself together without getting so mad she cries. She has to take a big, deep breath before she can squeak out the question, and even then the words are wavering and thick with tears.

"Kurt, would you mind giving me a ride home?" She looks from Kurt, who's jaw is moving but who doesn't formulate an answer, to Finn—who kind of looks the same way. "It seems I have a drug dependency your brother finds unwelcome."

"That's not—" Finn starts, trying to defend himself, but Kurt finds his voice and cuts Finn off.

"That'd be fine," Kurt says simply. Finn is looking back and forth between them, and when his gaze darts to Kurt, Kurt holds up a DVD case labeled _Meet the Fockers_. "We found your kind of movie for our marathon. Why don't you and Blaine start the video and I'll take Rachel home?"

Finn just nods even though he doesn't feel like watching another fucking movie. He doesn't feel like doing anything except working on the super power to pull words back out of the air. And it isn't until Blaine forces him to the couch that he even really understands what just happened. He just wishes he could rewind like an hour. He totally gets what people mean when they watch a movie and say they want those two hours of their life back because, like, that stupid B.S. movie just stole a couple of hours of his life in the worst possible way.


	9. Day Twenty Eight: Stuck in the Middle

**Day 28: Stuck in the Middle**

Kurt looks at the glitter chart with a frown. He kind of wishes there was some color besides red he could mark off the last couple days with; maybe even the _next_ couple. All he knows it's he caught in the middle. He hears the desperate message his brother leaves. He watches him pace and hit the punching bag and then pace some more. She calls in tears after she gets a nasty text message after she fails to respond to the voicemail. He doesn't know what to tell her, because he can't just say they need to work it out and he doesn't want to be stuck in the middle.

In the end, he leaves the glitter chart blank and turns his phone off, then goes out with Blaine alone (even though they had some pretty exciting plans for these two days).


	10. Day Twenty Nine: More Than Words

**_**Disclaimer:** _**_I own none of this stuff. I'm just playing and having fun, but I'm not necessarily gaining anything other than a little sanity so please don't sue me. The rest of the author's note is at the end. Thanks for reading!_

* * *

><p><strong>Day Twenty-Nine: More Than Words<strong>

He reaches up and taps his fist against the dark red colored door. He breathes in one breath and he tries really, really hard to breathe deep and slow so it will reach down into his chest and tell his heart to stop it with the fucking hammering already. His goddamn heartbeat has been giving him a headache for the last two days and he can't do much of anything until he just…he just misses her, is that wrong?

And any calming effect the deep breath actually had is totally undone by the way her dad's expression steels when he realizes who's at the door.

"Hello, Mr. Berry," he says. He swallows thickly and looks down but he can still feel the murder in the black man's cold, coal eyes. "Is Rachel home?"

"I assume you'd already be privy to that information if she wanted you to know."

"Wh-what?" Finn asks. He's pretty sure that's dad talk for _I could tell you but then I'm going to have to kill you and I might just skip to the second part because my daughter is mad at you._

Leroy Berry just sighs and swings out to the side, opening the door to let Finn inside. "Something tells me by the way you sat outside for twenty minutes and the way Rachel's been holed up in her room for two days that you two need to talk."

"Yeah, I agree," Finn says. He's kind of disappointed, honestly, when her dad doesn't leave it at that. He asks Finn to follow him into the kitchen so they can talk. . And when Finn walks into the kitchen, he's a little amused and a little sad to see sugar cookies covering, like, _every_ available inch of counter space. And table space. And even a couple of chairs pushed up to the island-style counter. "_Oh._"

"Yeah, 'oh'." Leroy takes a seat at the table so Finn does the same. "It would seem Rachel is just a little out of sorts."

Finn nods. "I get that feeling." He rolls his eyes a little and shakes his head.

"So… what happened?" Her dad _was_ imposing, but now he's munching on a sugar cookie. That kind of takes some of the sting out of it. Plus, he doesn't look quite so angry. Maybe since he knows Finn isn't going to be all stand-offish with him.

Never mind the fact that's because Finn is scared to death.

"Um…"

"She didn't find out something you've kept from her—_again_—did she?"

Okay, maybe he was a little too quick to think he should be anything less than whatever is the step above totally scared to death.

"No."

"And she didn't kiss another boy and get dumped for it?"

Finn lets in a long breath again and _damn it, heart and stomach…heart pounding and stomach sinking and it goes against bio for you to be this far apart and it feels horrible and just knock it the fuck off_.

"No."

Leroy raises an eyebrow and coolly assesses Finn over the remaining two bites of his cookie before he tries again once he realizes Finn isn't going to volunteer anything. "You want to have sex with my daughter and she's not ready?"

Now, Finn's never really been shy about eating Rachel's cookies. But he's pretty sure this question, or maybe some sort of thinking this was coming, is the reason he didn't dig in. Like—he would've choked.

He chokes a little bit anyway. "I'm sorry— _what_?"

"I'm confident you heard me just fine."

Finn looks at the man directly and it's not like he can _lie_ exactly. "I'm not pressuring her into anything. She said she wants to wait until she's twenty-five." He flicks a glance up at the ceiling. Her bedroom isn't even the room right over the kitchen, but it's like he's looking for her or some sign she's there. He drops his voice. He isn't too sure what's okay to say to her dad and what isn't okay and he sighs as he tries to decide. "It's not that it's just…we just have a lot to work out from last time and we were watching a stupid Barbra Streisand movie that started a fight 'cause Rachel doesn't think _I_ think she's pretty enough or good enough when…whatever…it's not _her_, it's _me_ and—"

"Rachel doesn't think she's pretty enough? For _what_?"

Finn sighs and his shoulder drops but at least his jackhammer heart has slowed and he doesn't feel like he's going to choke on it any more. He shakes his head. "She seems to think I'm some great catch and, like, she's not good enough for me." He drops his gaze to the table and runs his hand over the crease in the wood where it folds out into a larger oval. "I don't…she doesn't believe me that it's the other way around. And I got frustrated with her and she's mad at me and I …I don't know how to fix it exactly but I know I have to try."

"Do you have a plan?" Leroy asks slowly. He passes one of the unfrosted cookies over and Finn takes it but doesn't eat and instead basically reduces it to crumbs as he fiddles with it while he talks.

"Do I ever? I mean, no. I'm really not good at this kind of stuff, and especially not good like Rachel is 'cause she's gonna just shoot down any argument I have but I just _miss_ her and I just…I want to get through to her that she's…_y'know_…like, this is a totally no-win situation. She thinks I don't want to have sex with her because she's not _enough_ for me, like that's even _possible_. But if I _did_ tell her how much I want her, she'd feel all pressured and like that's all I wanted from her but…she wants to wait and I..."

He chances a glance at Leroy and wishes he would have been smart enough to add something about the man probably wanting to cut off any part of Finn's body that actually _touched_ his daughter. At least he had the sense to _stop talking_ –even if it was about four sentences too late.

When Leroy starts laughing, Finn's heart almost stops. (Which is not an improvement over the pounding from before…and maybe part of his nervous energy has made him pace, but whatever… it just gives him a head start when he has to start running away and that might very well be _now_). Leroy slings an arm over Finn's shoulders and urges him to sit down. Finn's ass hits the chair before he realizes all Leroy wants him to do is sit, not walk the plank or whatever. Leroy pushes a whole plate of cookies toward him with a smile.

"Son, welcome to the wonderful world of women."

"Well…" Finn breathes out. "It _can_ be wonderful. It can be, like all warm and soft and good-smelling and…" he looks at Leroy with a confused scowl. "…but how would you know? I mean, maybe from Rachel I guess, but like were you—did you ever…"

Leroy's louder laugh cuts him off again before Leroy looks around nervously and then clears his throat a little. "Well, Rachel got it from _somewhere _and Hiram can be a bit...high strung… at times," he confides.

Finn's brow furrows. Did Leroy just call Hiram...a _woman_? Or was he…like…with a chick at some time and now saw the same things in Rachel's other dad? He tries not to sigh because it's not worth trying to figure this out. Hopefully Leroy will be able to actually help. It's not like his mom can because she's actually a chick and she'll probably just hit him when she figures out was mean to Rachel.

"So what do you do about it? I mean…I just want her to believe me. Like not even anything about sex, like…I just know what it's like to feel like garbage and to feel like you're a huge screw up and Rachel is not so she shouldn't feel like she is and…"

Leroy's next words are totally quiet. "Finn, what is it you love about my daughter?"

Finn's pretty sure he can't get away with saying _everything_ even if it's the truth 'cause that's just too cheesy.

"She's…" he starts. "She's just…"

He can't describe her. Maybe that's what he loves the most. He loves little tiny things like the way her fingers always tickle his neck when they make out or hug or even sometimes when they just lay there and be quiet for a while; or the way she always tastes a little bit like strawberries. He loves the look on her face and the way she sucks in a breath when he moves in slow before he kisses her so she _really_ knows it's coming.

He loves the bigger things, too, like the way she turned his whole life upside down and the way she dreams so big even from a tiny body.

There's no way he can say all this to her dad. But he _knows_ how to get it through to her because he speaks her native language (…at least, that's what Kurt called it. Whatever. And it worked at Nationals so why mess with success, really? Now that he knows he can do this and it won't totally suck ass.)

Leroy is still looking at him and waiting for an answer. "Do you have some paper I can borrow?"

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

It's not like he wanted to just leave. He'd gone to her house with the intention of working things out, really. Plus he knew her dads were going out of town for the weekend and they kind of frowned upon her having people over once they were gone. Leroy had come home from work early, that's why he'd even been home in the first place, and by the time he makes it back over later the same afternoon the men are both gone.

On the other hand, this totally works out better and he's glad they aren't there to hear some of the stuff that ended up in the song 'cause he knows it would probably get her in more trouble than his being here once they've vacated the premises.

Plus, if he waited 'til later, Blaine could help him. Who knew that kid played guitar? And not only does he play, he's really good with it and can improvise and can help with tunes and stuff.

So he's in a much better place to do this _now_ than he was even a few hours ago and he's pretty surprised the whole thing worked up this quick and just… whatever. Mostly he hopes she gets what he wants her to get out of it and if this is a good way to tell her and make her understand, the bottom line is he'll try and try again 'til she _gets it_. He needs her to get it so they can move on from this stupid fight.

He rattles off a quick text message. The thing about Rachel is he _knows_ she's been getting his messages. Her phone is never more than two seconds away from her hand and he just _knows_. Even if she doesn't answer, it's just because she's mad and not because she didn't get the message.

_I know you're mad. You don't have to open the door or look at me. Just open your window and listen._

He can see when she does it because the curtains blow out a little bit through the open window. Blaine shrugs and just starts playing, hoping they can muster up enough volume from their seat on the bench under the tree to reach the second floor window.

_It's the way your fingers touch my neck. It's the moments that I can't forget. It's the way you smile when you say my name. It's the way I've seen my whole world change. It's the smile that won't go away…and how every kiss tastes. You're more than words, you're more than dreams. You're more than hearts were meant to be. You're more than I deserve, you're more than I'd expect. Every word is true…'cause it's you._

Blaine is still brushing his fingers softly over the guitar strings, holding the simple accompaniment steady even as he nods confidently and winks at Finn. Finn tries to remember that's just how Blaine is and it's not creepy.

_It's the moment right before we kiss, when time seems to not exist. It's when I open my eyes and you're still asleep, right before I lock the door behind me. It's the drag-me-back look you have in your eyes after the sixth time we've said goodbye. _

By the time he hits the chorus again, she's standing behind the screen door watching, the front door opened so she can see him. 

_In every single day and every single way you've touched my soul. Every single day, you're every single thing that's indescribable. _

She pushes the screen door open and she's standing there barefoot and in a spaghetti-strapped tanktop and sweatpants and tears in her eyes. He can even see them from the driveway.

_Every word is true, 'cause it's you._

Blaine strums the song to a close and Rachel holds her hand out, hooking her finger towards her as she refuses to stop looking at Finn. He puts his hands in his pockets and flips a quick look to Blaine, who just nods like _go on and get yours_. Finn's pretty sure the sixty-seven or so times he's already said the words were an adequate thank you. So he heads inside to explain some more. It's only when the door clicks shut behind him that he realizes he probably doesn't have a way to get home.

Oh, well. Bigger fish in the sea or something like that.

Even though the house is empty, they go to her room. It's kind of like their default setting anyway, and even if his song was what he really wanted to say and have her hear, it also was just the beginning. They have some talking to do. And honestly, he wants to—because he thinks fights can happen and they can still be okay. It doesn't have to be the end of the world, especially not a stupid fight where she doesn't know he thinks she's sexy as hell because—well, that's just ridiculous. Like it's not even a conversation.

She sits on her bed, though, and doesn't say a word.

"You wrote me another song?"

He doesn't smile. "Seems like a good enough way to make you listen and I was pretty sure what I wanted to say wouldn't get through the normal way." He lowers his gaze and breathes out. "It frustrates me when you say you suck. Or you're not sexy. Or whatever scares you. Like—okay, I like that we talk about this stuff but there's nothing I can say that will_ really_ change the way you feel about yourself, but I don't think you understand how much I think about you. And different parts of your body. And I _want _to have sex with you someday but…but it just… it makes me _hurt_ when you say all that stuff you said 'cause I don't want you to even feel that way."

"…just… _someday_?" She asks quietly.

He feels like he's banging his head against a wall. Seriously. But instead of actually doing that like he might want to, he moves to sit next to her on her bed.

He lets out a frustrated groan. "I just…I want you to not feel bad about yourself _before_ we do it. Like okay, the thing with Santana is that sex and confidence are the same thing for her. And you're not that way and it's _so_ good you're not that way. You should be confident about all the good stuff you are and the good stuff you _do_ and I just wish you could feel it all the way deep down instead of just pretending. So that's how we'll know when we're ready, because it will be all about how much we love each other and how good it feels, not just…not just how needy we are."

"I know you were here earlier," she starts after a long pause and _great_. There's no way this is going to be good for him because he was so upset and nervous he can barely even remember what he said to her dad. He takes a deep breath and lets her continue. "My dad said he was so proud we're waiting until we're twenty-five."

Her smirk says quite a bit of things she doesn't get out of her mouth.

"Yeah, well…"

"You would wait that long?" She asks. "_Really_?"

"Well, I don't _want_ to but…yeah. I would wait that long for you if that's what you wanted me to do."

She seems to consider this for a long time, and he doesn't know if what he said is a good or a bad thing; he can never really tell 'til she talks again—and especially because she's not stomping away and he also can't see her face that well at the moment.

"I think about it…_ a lot_," she admits. She shrugs and they're sitting close enough he can feel her move his shirt a little bit with her arm.

He looks at her and gives her a little smile. "Yeah? And what do you think?"

She closes her eyes and even though she's smiling a little, her words kind of cut that off. "I'm scared."

He nods. "Yeah. Me, too." He clears his throat and continues on. "I'm scared maybe I'll push too hard 'cause I know the other one pushed you about it and he was kind of an asshole with all this stuff. And I know how it feels to get pushed into that and…so, yeah. I'm afraid you'll think I'm pushy. But then apparently that made problems because you think I don't want you like that and I do. _A lot_."

"But you've done it before," she protests. "What if I'm terrible at it? What if… what if it changes everything? What if you don't want me anymore after that because it's _so_ bad?"

Finn sighs and puts his arm around her. "Well, I already told you it doesn't count for anything from when I did it before because… well, because it was _nothing_. I already know when we do… well, when we do it, it's not gonna be nothing. It's going to be everything. And there's _no_ way in hell you could be bad at it. You're never really bad at anything you try."

"I could be bad at that," she says. "I don't _want_ to be."

He squeezes the top of her arm and lets his fingertips rub her warm skin. "You won't be. I _might_ be." He's still watching her and he drops his voice lower. "And would you love me less if I were?"

She laughs a little bit. "Of course not. I might buy you a book or insist you practice…"

"See, so you'd just deal with it like anything else," he says simply. He breathes out. "I'm sorry about the text. It was mean. And I'm sorry I got mad, Rach. I just…it kills me when you're down on yourself. And if I need to step up and do a better job reminding you how awesome you are, then I'll do it." He can't hide his grin any more. "And do you _really_ want to know all the dirty stuff I want to do with you right now, even if we aren't going to have sex? 'Cause the list is kind of long."

Her eyes get wide. "You have a list?"

"Well…not like… I don't write it down. 'Cause Kurt snoops in my room and so does my mom and… whatever, but yeah. There's a list. A _dirty_ list."

She bites her lip and watches him carefully. He's been less sheltered than she has, and she knows it. A lot of his sexual awareness has been from just being around someone like Puck—not to mention the girls Puck hooks up with. He's heard a lot and he's probably seen a lot and she isn't entirely certain she can keep up. She's not prepared for this.

"…well, what's on it?" She asks curiously; maybe if he'll just tell her the names of anything she can look into it and feel like she isn't some child playing in a grown up world. Even more than she hates her insecurities, she hates when she doesn't know the answer to something.

Instead of just answering her, he turns to put his knees on the edge of the bed and, as he crawls toward the pillows, he latches an arm around her and carries her with him.

"I don't think I want to tell you," he says simply.

"But we—"

He shuts her up with a kiss and then he talks immediately so she can't get another word in. "No, I think I just want to show you. 'Cause I'm not great with words, you know."

She lets out a nervous little laugh. He drops his mouth to her neck though, letting his tongue dance over her bare skin and turning her laugh into a little bit of a gasp. She's always kind of had a thing for him sucking on her neck and she doesn't know how it's possible something so simple can just feel so _good_.

He licks and kisses down around the neckline of her tanktop. It's not extremely low-cut, just enough that he can dip the tip of his tongue into the crease of her cleavage; but about the time he does that, his hand wanders up her side, dragging along until he can catch his hand around her ribcage and just the pad of his thumb to work her nipple, rubbing over the fabric of her shirt until the small knot becomes visible.

He grabs her with his other hand in the same way and kisses his way up to her other ear before breathing his next words. "And if you _ever_ really doubt how much I _want _you like this…." he grabs her hand away from his side and presses it down on the fly of his jeans. She gives his already-tight erection a small squeeze and he dips his head to her shoulder long enough to let in shaky breath. He gives a brief smile before he lets his eyes wander to hers. "Well… just don't anymore, 'kay?" She rubs her palm against him and he lunges into her grasp beyond his own control.

So he might be new to some of this, not as much as she is, but there's something first on his list. And the reason it's first is because, for as new as he is, his ears are _not_ virgins. Like, hanging around with Puck or even listening to the Cheerios talk when he was waiting outside the locker room for Quinn… well, he heard things. And he's heard there's one certain way to just…well, to make a girl totally fall apart and to just…

Basically, he wants to make Rachel feel like she makes him feel every single day. And he thinks he knows how to and he's pretty sure she'll let him. He means, like… his fingers were just there the other day (and shut up, the day after that and then the day after that _twice_—who is counting? Just stop it) so it's not a big stretch that she would like his tongue even more than his fingers.

Well, either way he should probably stop thinking about it and just see, right? Like…maybe she just needs him to just _act_ and not be so patient about it.

So he snakes his way down her body, even with her clothes still on, and he totally has to stop and pull the hem of her shirt up because is it weird that he wants to lick her stomach? It seems weird, but on the other hand, he can feel her muscles clenching under his tongue and she keeps sighing and it's really easy for him to just continue down from there. Her pants are loose so they come off easily, and he just keeps going. It's that simple. She lifts her hips up to help him and he actually ends up accidently finding this spot on the back of her knee that makes her shake a little and then relax her legs more. He turns his head to suck on the inside of her thigh—the first time he's given anyone that kind of a hickey and he'll make sure she knows that later—and she's still not stopping him. As he darts his tongue out again, he doesn't even recognize the sound she lets out.

Score.

He always thought it would be kind of weird. Like when he was outside the locker room and heard girls talking…he wasn't sure it was something he wanted to ever try. But he turns his head anyway and brings his fingers up, running them lightly through her slick folds even as he blows out a nervous breath. She shudders and scoots her butt a little closer to him, but he just…he _has _to make sure.

"Is this okay?" He barely manages. He looks up at her and if the look she shoots him isn't the hottest look he's ever seen then…

"This is okay," she breathes before she drops her head back to the pillows. She doesn't say anything else, really, and he's busy running his tongue along the trail straight down her center that his finger had just taken. "Oh…oh my God."

He moves as slowly as he can, trying to coordinate both at the same time, using his tongue and sliding his finger, first around, and then inside her. They've done this a couple times now and she was always wet, but he can feel her getting wetter as his tongue traces lightly along her slit, just getting a feel for the warm flesh and getting used to the way she tastes.

He's going to have to add that taste to the list of reasons he loves her, most likely. It's not what he was expecting, but it's not bad…and well, he's so rock-hard and so turned on by the fact she's letting him do this at _all_ that it might just be considered bias of some kind. Who cares? His tongue is settling into a light pattern against her clit and that's really all he can focus on.

There are a lot of sex tips thrown at your average teenage guy, and he can only think of a couple related to this. Girls talking about the alphabet and spelling it out _slowly_. So that's what he does. He's got three fingers pressed into her now—she was the one begging for more—and her muscles are so tight he can barely move his hand. But when he does move his hand, she moves her hips, and his fingers curl and then her thighs clamp around him. He's pretty sure that means he's doing something _right_.

Her hips are moving now, a little more insistent, so he bears down a little harder, speeds up his movements a little more and right about the time he remembers the letter "F" comes after "E" (he was moving slow like they said) she _literally _yells his name and she's riding his face while she comes and he totally loses it himself because…after all… he is only a man (a man who has awkwardly shifted against the bed, looking for even just a little bit of friction because his balls were starting to feel so tight). And it seems like his own grunt just makes her come harder because she responds to his mouth vibrating against her skin.

Just because sometimes he's curious like that, he pulls his fingers out of her and he moves his tongue out of the way, but then lets his teeth graze over her swollen skin, the lightest scrape he can manage. She gives another moan, but it doesn't sound tired and it doesn't sound _done_, so he does it again. And then he sucks on the skin and she's got her hands in his hair, tugging at it as she calls his name and presses his face into her harder.

Okay, so maybe he _won't _be bad at this.

He keeps at it, nibbling softly and sometimes letting his tongue out to dance along her; her skin feels hotter than ever and he feels every scrape of her fingernails on his scalp as the feeling shivers down his spine and it's just… it's a lot. And it's awesome.

Until she comes again and he can feel her whole body pulsing around him and then it's something a little _more_ than awesome. He just can't think of the word—or really _any_ words for that matter. So instead, with one last, soft kiss, he pulls himself up over her and then drops down next to her and gathers her into his arms. He knows he needs to change his clothes and use some mouthwash or something and they'll probably have to wash her bedding and stuff, but…well, too bad. He's missed burying his face in the back of her neck when she curls up against him. Everything else can wait a little longer.

"That was…" she finally says, her voice shaky and quiet. Like, she waits a really, _really_ long time to talk. He's not sure he can yet. "…unexpected."

He laughs a little, not bothering to remove his face from the back of her neck. "Is that a _good_ thing?"

"I had no idea you wanted to do that," she admits. "I had no idea _I _wanted to do that until you were doing it." She turns in his arms and she's still pressed up against him and…well, this way is good, too.

"It's just the first thing on the list, Rach. I want you so bad all the time..._like that_…'cause I love you, you know?"

She sighs. "Well, I love you, too. So would it hurt if I…um… returned the favor?" He can feel her smile even though he's holding her so close he can't see her face.

He laughs. "I'm pretty sure it wouldn't _hurt _but…let's just save that for another time. Today was your turn. Because I wanted to do it and a little bit because I'm sorry I got mad and we fought. And I'm _really_ sorry about that text message." (And also 'cause he's pretty sure she would appreciate it if he took a shower first because…right. He won't get into all that just now though.)

"I'm sorry I…" she sighs and presses a kiss under his chin before snuggles into him a little more. He knows her by her shaky sigh that she wants to say more, but she really doesn't need to, he knows she's sorry, too. So he hugs her back and presses a kiss to the crown of her head. Yeah, apologies can wait.

And in a lot of ways, setting things right is the best thing they could've done with the day. They'll just reschedule the trip to the museum.

* * *

><p><strong>AN: **_Okay, so note at the end instead of start so I didn't ruin anything. First off, sorry again for the length. Kind of. Second, major thanks to **Jen, Lizzie, Leo, **and** Laura** for their help on this part. It was kind of ambitious subject matter for me as a writer and each of you made it better. So thank you for all the input and not making fun of my freaking out. I hope it came out right. And, even if your name isn't in that list, thanks so much for reading and reviewing and asking and suggesting. I did have one thing to credit that I missed in an earlier chapter: **the puddle jumping was ALL Leo's idea/prompt**. Because he's generally awesome like that and I now have about a dozen other prompts of his to fill, too. They're so good I can't say no._

_The song is not actually written by Finn, obviously, but it is a real song and it's incredible and by an incredible musician. It's **Indescribable** by **Josh Damigo**._


	11. Day Thirty Two: Let Me Count the Ways

_**A/N:** Thanks to Jen, Leo, Laura, and Lizzie (y'know, 'the usuals'... I might just start referring to them as such) for all their help as I sorted out this pointless mess of a chapter. Hopefully now it is neither pointless nor a mess. And as always, please let me know how you feel about it either way. And if anyone has ideas for activities-as fitting the guidelines Rachel gave Finn at the beginning, mind you-please PM/ask box away. Also, I've been trying to post this and the last on tumblr but it keeps flipping me off so I'm just not sure. _

**_Disclaimer: _**_I don't own Glee and I'm in no way affiliated with that; nor do I own Elizabeth Barrett Browning, her cheesy poem, and the title of this chapter was borrowed from her words because I'm generally not creative._

* * *

><p><strong>Day Thirty-Two: <strong> **Let Me Count the Ways**

She wonders if it should feel awkward. They parted ways on Friday night—Saturday morning about five minutes before Finn's curfew if one were _truly_ keeping track—and she'd had a full Saturday roster of auditioning for the Summer Theater Series at the outdoor amphitheater in Van Wert. And then he'd had a full Sunday doing some pee-wee football training camp thing that seemed a little out of season to her. (Then again, in Buckeye territory, was football season _ever_ over?)

So Monday happens to be both Carole _and_ Hiram's birthdays—and she thinks the Sherman Brothers were right about it being a small world. Although this will give them the perfect excuse for family get-togethers year after year and is one of the least strange ways they could be bonded together. This year, Leroy volunteered to host a barbecue for the joint birthday and here they are. Finn just barely arrived and she wonders if it's supposed to be awkward. Considering the last time she really saw him, he had his tongue and his hands in her…

"Hey," he says softly. He came in with Kurt and Blaine (it goes without saying her fathers _love _those two. It's kind of a nice moment, actually, because the older couple immediately engages the boys in conversation) so Finn and Rachel get to talk privately as they walk around the patio a little.

"Hey," she echoes, trying not to smile bigger than he's doing, which is hard because he has that sly little grin on again. She loves and hates that smile all at once.

"So…since you lost the hang-up war last night, you have to start the water fight," he says. He lets his fingers dance down her arm and she just wishes they were alone in her room again. She wonders if they can sneak away for five minutes. _Probably not_.

Besides, his mother and Burt are in the kitchen. Carole brought enough food to feed a small army and it will take her some time to make it all presentable and set it out. And she's vigorously denied help from anyone other than Burt at least twice.

Rachel tries extra hard to offer every chance because she still doesn't have a gauge for how the woman feels regarding the girl who stole and crushed her son's heart –and then took it back again. Instead of having the real conversation, she thinks it's easier just to offer help in the kitchen.

Regardless, though, they've wandered into the corner of the yard where her Dad's rosebushes are secluded and form almost a sub-garden. It's a beautiful place to sit (and an even more beautiful place to make out as they learned last year), so they do. She immediately presses herself against him as they settle into their 'usual' places on the wrought iron bench.

"I'd rather start something else," she says. Her breath is dancing on his cheek, at least until he turns his head and kisses her softly.

"I dunno…that might be _trouble_," he agrees, his voice low and gentle. She kind of wonders what she'll ever do if she has another summer that isn't all about Finn Hudson—because she's addicted to this feeling, amongst others. She's just addicted to _him_ and it's just getting stronger.

She's trying to move slowly, in terms of physical relationship. They just took two huge leaps within a week of each other, and they both _know_ they aren't ready for more than that. She compromises by eventually climbing over him so only one of his legs are between hers where she's kneeling on the padded bench. His knees are parted to make room for her, so she assumes he's okay with this and they keep kissing.

His hands don't venture further than roaming her back and maybe a little over the curve of her ass, but he's just glad to have her against him at all. He was nervous for how different it would feel or if he'd feel like maybe he needed to do something more than kissing her. Turns out kissing her is just _fine, _he knows for sure now, and he runs his tongue over her bottom lip and her jaw relaxes to let it into her mouth.

This is great, since awkward happens about seven minutes later when Kurt and Blaine stumble into their area of the garden; Kurt has been around and is giving Blaine a tour. Blaine never really saw more than the downstairs before.

"I should've known you two would be on top of each other somewhere," Kurt says dryly. Rachel's lips stick to Finn's when she pulls away a little bit. He told her once her lip gloss might be favorite part of making out so he tries not to lick it all off too fast; he's stopped her and asked if she could put more on before, too. Well this time he was going slow and so… yeah. Her lips stick to his when she backs away and she smiles.

"Hey, guys!" She offers. She jumps up from Finn's lap because she hasn't actually hugged either Kurt or Blaine yet and, at least this summer, she's been even more of a hugger than usual.

Kurt drops down next to Finn when Rachel and Blaine walk off together and Rachel is excitedly chattering about some kind of sound equipment her dad just bought that neither of them have an interest in. Okay, Finn's seen it and played with it a little already. But Kurt's not interested.

Kurt flicks a quick glance over his shoulder and tries not to be surprised about Rachel and Finn expertly finding a secluded corner to make-out in. He usually expects that out of them, especially during this version of their relationship. They've been very handsy; normally he would complain but this time it works to his advantage.

"Can I ask you about something?" Kurt asks. He doesn't look at Finn, just sits by him and looks to the side.

Finn frowns. "Yeah…are you okay?"

Kurt doesn't _look_ okay, and his words don't sound as certain as normal. "Well, yeah. I just have a question. I need a guy's perspective but I'm sure it's the last thing you want to talk about, considering how vastly discussed your numerous sexual conquests have been in the past."

Finn shifts uncomfortably and he swallows hard. "What? I mean…only the one was…"

"Your first girlfriend was pregnant,Finn," Kurt says with a disbelieving blink. "That counts as evidence of a sexual conquest."

"The big deal about Santana was because she was…my…" Finn is still fidgeting uncomfortably against the cushion and his mumble has dropped off to almost indecipherable. Kurt sighs; he'd hoped they could talk, but maybe not. Finn finally chokes out the words. "My first."

The mumble breaks Kurt out of his embarrassment and he looks over at Finn openly. "And you honestly expect us to believe that?"

Finn's eyes widen a little. Okay…so maybe he had believed he got Quinn pregnant for a long time, and even though he obviously wasn't the dad in the end, maybe his believing made it seem like they had done it. Or what if…what if everyone thinks they did it while they were dating this last time? What if _Rachel_ thinks they did? She _knows_ they didn't, right? There's been no real conversation (just a quick mention during their fight) because there's just that…nothing to talk about. Rachel wouldn't… like, they wouldn't have done what they did without… maybe he should just make _sure_ she knows.

"Believe what you want 'cause it's none of your business anyway," Finn says. He'll talk to Rachel later, because it _is _sort of her business; especially since this time around he really doesn't want her to think he's lying and he's not positive the point got driven home well enough during their argument.

"Look, it doesn't matter one way or the other," Kurt says. "My question is… how did you know the timing was right for you and Rachel?"

Finn looks at Kurt with his eyebrows raised. "_What_? We haven't…"

"_Oh_," Kurt says, sounding genuinely surprised. "I haven't talked to her much but she said you took a significant step and I just assumed…"

"Well _don't_. We're not gonna do that. Not for a while, at least," he corrects. "And when we do, I'm not telling anyone anyway."

Kurt just nods. "So what's the significant step? I mean…we…I think…"

"Spit it out," Finn says flatly; Kurt has kind of irritated him in that normal way, and now he thinks he needs to go find Rachel, too.

"Sorry, I'm just a little out of my element. And now you're being standoffish."

Finn breathes out a sigh. He knows Kurt doesn't really have anyone else to talk to about this kind of stuff. But it's not like he's some wicked awesome stud who knows it all, either. Even if he's not turning out to be a total spaz at it like he thought. "Sorry…just…what are you worried about?"

"Well, I just…I think me and Blaine should somehow take it to the next level," Kurt manages to get out. He looks over at Finn, but the look on Finn's face hasn't changed, so maybe that's good.

And Finn feels awkward; like, are the levels the same for two guys as they are for one guy and one girl? He's not sure how the relationship stuff comes together. It seems like it would be the same and would be the same line he crossed with Rachel about a week ago. Okay. Maybe he can have an opinion on at least that.

"Well…why do you think that?" Finn asks. "'Cause you should probably have a good reason."

"Did…did you?" Kurt asks.

Finn forgets to be embarrassed for a second. "Well," he starts. He chuckles. "Sort of, I guess. I mean…she probably did." He stops remembering and realizes where he is and it's just _not_ cool for him to lose himself and to do stuff like that when he's not with Rachel. Like—she's the only one he won't be embarrassed in front of and now he can feel his neck going up in flames. And he probably can't blame it on the weather since it's kind of a nice day today.

"I guess that's the hardest part—reading the other person." Kurt looks over at Finn. "You have it easy because Rachel is pretty easy to read."

"Yeah, man…but only if you know her. She barely ever acts surprised so you gotta know what to look for."

"So…how do you know when she's ready?" Kurt asks.

And again, Finn forgets for a second, because he's remembering putting his fingers inside of her and how it felt like the two of them were in their own happy bubble and how it's a place he never actually wants to leave. "I ask."

"It's just that simple?" Kurt asks.

Finn sighs. Somehow, he knows Rachel and Blaine are on their way back. They need to wrap this conversation up.

"No, sometimes it's embarrassing as hell," Finn says honestly. "And sometimes it's funny and sometimes it's hot… but mostly…" he rubs at the back of his neck. "I don't know."

"But you think…whatever you've done…it's _right_? Like you guys are happy?" Kurt looks down at his lap. "I mean, I kind of wondered after that last fight."

"Yeah, the fight sucked," Finn admits. "But we worked it out. We still have stuff to work out. But on the whole, it's good."

"So you do…that…even though you have things to discuss?" Kurt asks. "I mean, if there's awkwardness…" he blows out a breath. "Blaine told me he loves me. I said it back. And I'm _still_ not sure I do. And every time he says it again, I just feel kind of awkward."

Finn just nods; he's been there before. He's super glad he isn't there now, because it's like the second-worst feeling in the world. Or maybe the third. He's guessing the first two worst feelings he had were a tie for something beyond terrible.

"Well, if you're not sure then don't do anything," Finn says simply. "'Cause there aren't enough showers to get rid of that feeling. _Trust me_."

Kurt gives a little laugh and he can hear Rachel's chatter from across the yard like a timer for the expiration date on this conversation. "But what about… _after_? Is it weird? I keep thinking it's going to be weird and that's one of the things holding me back."

Finn looks over his shoulder just in time to see Rachel and Blaine walking through the trellis draped in roses that kind of cut their part of the garden off. He can't _not_ smile. He has no idea what she's talking about, but whatever it is, she's pretty interested and her hands are moving. And Blaine is a good guy 'cause he seems to be keeping up.

"Nah, man. It's not weird. You just really want to do it again. And that's how I know it's okay, because it doesn't feel weird at all." Finn lets the words out in a rush, pushed by the fact he feels the need to talk to Rachel—like _now_. "Are you… are you happy?"

Kurt lets out a long breath, and his answer is low because they're approaching. "I don't know. "

And the whole thing with being _that_ guy—like the one who isn't a screw-up and who people ask for advice; the one who actually has sight into…insight?...or whatever for things—that's new to him. It's another first. _Man, there have been a lot of those lately. _Just like the rest, that part feels good.

But also, maybe there's the first time he realizes his brother is a heartbreaker, too. And they always joke that Kurt and Rachel are basically the same person so… so what exactly does that make _her_? What if she's having doubts she doesn't tell him about? Isn't that kind of like lying?

And didn't he just tell her how her doubts make him feel like crap? Sometimes he wishes he wasn't stupid and he didn't say all that stuff because now _he_ has doubts too.

"Well, you kind of owe it to him and to yourself to figure it out," Finn says. "Things got a lot easier for me when I figured out exactly _why_ I love her—and then kind of told her that." Kurt opens his mouth to protest, but Finn keeps going. "You don't have to write a song. You just have to _say_ it. And then say it again."

Kurt doesn't reply because Rachel and Blaine are just too close. He just nods and mumbles thanks.

Blaine greets Kurt with a hand on the shoulder; Rachel greets Finn with a kiss on the cheek. The two gestures are miles apart and Finn knows it's obvious he and Rachel are a lot closer… closer to what is just the question. He leans toward her mouth a little and she ruffles his hair affectionately. She still frowns when she sees his face.

"Are you okay?"

He takes her hand as he stands up and he pulls the back of her hand to his mouth to kiss it. "Yeah, but I have a question to ask you. Can we go inside for a minute?"

She nods and then catches her hand up in his and then leads the way inside. Kurt watches, wondering what on earth his conversation sparked; whatever it was sapped the giddy, almost lovesick look from his brother's face. For that he is genuinely sorry, even though in the end he's glad he talked to Finn and he feels more resolved in what he has to do—even if that's just as simple as waiting.

Rachel pulls Finn into the living room and they sit down together on the leather loveseat. He hesitates to sit there a little because his mom and Burt are still in the kitchen. And even though they are kind of horsing around and don't seem to be paying attention, his mom has magic eyes and magic ears and somehow she sees and knows everything and he's still kind of waiting for her to give him the sex talk because, like, maybe his tongue turned blue after he kissed his girlfriend … down there.

"What's wrong?" She asks softly. She's sitting next to him, kind of pressed up against him but still looking at him all the same.

He traces his hands over the skirt on her sundress and looks at the way his fingers cut into the pattern a little bit. It feels soft and it smells good and it's just… he just loves her, that's all. He wants to do this right. That's not such a bad thing.

"I just don't want us to be like Blaine and Kurt," he says. He doesn't watch her, but he's pretty sure she and Blaine had a similar conversation to the one he just had with Kurt.

It takes her a minute to talk, but then she does and he almost instantly feels better. "We're not. They might have some _big_ problems."

"Well, I know Kurt does."

"And Blaine knows that, too," she replies. "It's hurting him."

Finn sighs. "I guess that's how it works, huh?"

She tilts her head. "I don't understand. What do you mean?"

"Well, that's what it's like to love someone. When they hurt or they don't know…it hurts you and confuses you, too."

She remembers his naïve proclamation about _you don't hurt someone if you love them_ and she knows it's cost him a lot to learn the lesson. It cost _her_ a lot for him to learn the lesson. And the summer before, it cost her a lot to learn it herself—through Shelby. At least she couldn't say her mother never gave her anything. She _knew_ Shelby loved her with that blind mother/daughter love. She just _knew_ but it had never been truly expressed because Shelby was too selfish and maybe idealistic.

Rachel was still trying to tone those qualities down in herself because she knew how badly it actually hurt to be on the other side of that.

"Sometimes." She gives a small smile and lets her fingers trace his knuckles. "And then sometimes, loving someone is just…well, wonderful. It makes you better and stronger and…"

He nods. "I think that's where we are," he agrees. "That's where I wanna be." He licks his lips and looks down at her hand. "I talked to Kurt and it kind of confused me, or made me think you might be confused about a couple things. Can I…can I just tell you?"

"Anything," she whispers. She can tell from his tone isn't nothing worrisome, but she hopes he spits it out quickly instead of his more characteristic stammer.

"Okay, first—you _know_ I didn't do anything with Quinn, right? Not the first time and not the second time… not ever."

"Why would I think you did?"

"Well, last time it started to go wrong because I kept something from you, so I want this to be, like, the opposite. And before, I just didn't _talk_ about the crap that happened with Santana and I thought that made it okay, 'cause it didn't seem like lying when we just didn't really talk about it. And I know there was a perfect moment to come clean and I was too embarrassed to do it and well…I just don't want that to happen again. I don't even want you to _think_ that's happening again. We haven't talked much about me and Quinn 'cause it's not—there's nothing to talk about, okay? Like, if I'm being specific, I didn't even really touch her boobs."

Rachel tries to bite back her laugh because she understands the overall sentiment of what he's trying to say; but he _did_ sound a little disappointed about the boobs. And she knows how much he likes to feel them, so…she supposes it's rather understandable.

"And honestly, not to slam Quinn's chest or anything else about her really, but…but I think I didn't try very hard 'cause I didn't want to touch boobs that weren't yours."

"You like touching my chest?" She asks, unable to keep the grin off her face.

He lets out a heavy and disbelieving laugh and he makes eye contact with her. "Uh. _Yeah_."

"Okay, Finn," she says.

They were just talking about boobs and her words sound like _permission_ and he shakes his head, trying to focus again. That's the other thing about getting more physical. He couldn't really concentrate before, but it's like it's _worse_. The problem is the opposite. He _can_ focus now –but he can only focus on _one_ thing. He hopes that tones down before school starts. He doesn't think it will.

"Anyway, that's not entirely my point, though. I mean…okay, so me and Quinn didn't do anything. Me and Santana fucked—"

"Finn—"

"No, there's really no other word for it." He says over her protest (probably about his language 'cause he knows she thinks that word is _unnecessary_ and whatever. It's just a word.) and she even squeezes his leg for it. "But with _you_… it's like all feelings and everything tied together and it's exactly what I want and I…I'm just happy y'know?"

Her hand covers his and she squeezes. "Me, too."

He blows out a breath. This is more talking than he's done – like, _ever._ "Okay, well the next thing I wanted to say after I talked about Kurt is…okay," he says, pausing to kind of gather his thoughts and figure out where he's going here, even if Rachel does okay when he rambles. She's actually really great with it. "So, I think it's important for you to know _why_ I love you. And I kind of covered that with that song…" he rubs his free hand over the back of his neck, and his other is still all tangled in hers and sitting on top of her thigh.

"But I have it all figured out and I want to tell you as much as I can. I love you because you're amazing and you have all these plans and you let me tag along. Like, when you make plans it's for _both_ of us. I don't have to just wander around 'cause you won't let me and I need that. For example, with this staycation thing; I woulda just played video games or something all summer but instead we're doing all this stuff and we have real memories…like I remember even last summer felt good and everything but I don't really _remember_ it. I'm never going to forget our fort or cleaning out your closet or … you just help me _do_ things."

"Finn," she whispers. She has tears in her eyes and her hand on his cheek.

"And I love how you like to be close to me. I think…well, I think having you close is the biggest thing I missed even though I'm not usually that cuddly or whatever. I almost always smell like you in some way or I can taste you and…I don't really have to miss you, and that's good 'cause you're the biggest thing in my life. And I _know_ I'm not the biggest thing in yours, but I hope you know it's never going to change for me that _you_ are."

She slips her hand from her cheek to his mouth. "Let's just do this every day."

"What?"

He can _taste_ her fingers and that's what he was _just_ talking about. He kisses her fingertips and then holds them to his mouth when she tries to pull her arm away; she wasn't _really_ trying so she doesn't really _mind._

"Well, what I love about you is everything. It's going to take me a long time to break it down. So can I please tell you a reason every day? It'll be another one of our _things_ that we're doing. We have the time out thing and the stay and play thing and the always being honest thing. So I'm going to tell you one reason I love you every day, too."

He looks at her for a long time and…yeah, that sounds like a good idea 'cause he's really not _sure_ how someone as incredible as her really loves him. He feels lucky for sure but…but it would be super to have even more reasons _why_. For her to remind him why. That could be good.

"Sure," he says. Her fingers are still against his mouth and he kisses them again. "What's the reason for today?"

She lets out a shaky breath. "Okay. Well, I think today the thing I love the most is your dedication to not making the same mistakes again. I know it isn't always easy for you to talk to people—you would rather keep it inside. That doesn't seem to be the case with me and I…I love being the one you lean on."

He closes his eyes and takes a breath and he just _has _to kiss her, even if he keeps it short and soft 'cause he can hear his mom coming this direction. He tugs on a loose lock of Rachel's hair and smiles, letting his forehead rest against hers.

"Thank you," he says. It's really for _everything_. He isn't sure if she knows that, but maybe he'll just tell her tomorrow.

"Mmm," she murmurs. Her hands are on his shoulders. "Maybe we should insist Kurt and Blaine do this exact thing. Maybe it would help them."

"Or _maybe _we should stay out of it unless they ask," he says. She always wants to leave things better than she found them, even if sometimes it makes her seem pushy or stuck up or like she's telling someone what to do (and honestly, usually she is).

Well… he knows what he'll say about day three of the rest of his life, too. He's stocking these up quick 'cause yeah… she's basically the easiest person in the world to love. And it's, like, the _opposite _of hard to make sure she knows why he does.


	12. Day Thirty Six: I Picture You in the Sun

**A/N: **_I owe a lot of thanks for this part. **Jen** for the beta on-demand, the help the first and the help the second time after I was an idiot. **Leo** for laughing at my expense and - okay, not really. There was laughing but I deserved it and after the laughing there was help and encouragement. **Laura** and m.i.a **Kenz** for the help and suggestions. To everyone who reads, reviews (you guys are my favorite and I'm not even hinting), follows, likes, reblogs, PMs, and supports in any way._

_So, on a side note, I realized that most of my chapter titles have come from songs. I probably ought to give credit where credit is due. Today's is from **In the Sun **by **Joseph Arthur** (the song is far more depressed than this update and no, I didn't even listen while writing); chapter 10 was **More Than Words **by **Extreme**; chapter 9 was** Stuck in the Middle **by **Stealers Wheel**; chapter 7 was **Hooked on a Feeling **by **Blue Swede**; and chapter 2 was **Cleanin' Out My Closet **by **Eminem. **I've been told I can come up with a lyric or song for any situation and I'm starting to think it's true because most of these have nothing to do with the chapter they were attached to. Except maybe Ch. 7. Whatever._

**_Disclaimer_**_: **I own nothing affiliated with Glee or its counterparts. All I own is my freakishly long author's notes and the fact that I can't write drabbles unless 4k words is a drabble.**_

* * *

><p><strong>Day Thirty-Six: I Picture You in the Sun<strong>

Finn starts going to the gym once July kicks in. He claims he needs to at least run a little bit so he doesn't die during the two-week football camp in August (it's just a day camp, but apparently they work them very hard despite the heat); she thinks maybe there's something else to it. She can remember him being a little…off…this same time last year but he never volunteered details and she never pressed.

Well it is, as they say, a new year. Their relationship is deeper, more secure this year than it was last year—even if she didn't know it was anything less as it was happening last year. Regardless, she wants to know what's going on with him.

It's nothing specific causing her alarm, really. There's the working out thing (which is where he is now) and last night when Blaine and Kurt wanted to start watching the Band of Brothers series (apparently the book is summer reading for some History of War class Blaine is taking next fall) he kissed her so hard she not only missed the movie but she couldn't remember her name when he was done. He typically doesn't mind watching those kinds of things and even claims they give him video-game pointers. But last night—last night he definitely seemed to mind a little. He didn't say anything that would indicate any discomfort. In fact, he even smiled and joked in a mostly normal way, but it was the 'mostly' that gave her pause. The smiles faltered, his grip was tighter, and it just seemed like he was seeking some kind of comfort. He relies on her for that stuff now in a way he didn't before and it makes her happy; it makes her want to do something nice for him to help him feel better.

That's the only reason she can come up with that doesn't make it feel awkward to be having tea with Carole in the middle of a random Wednesday at the beginning of the month. She thinks Finn mentioned something about Burt and Carole going out of town and leaving Friday, so she isn't sure how Carole possibly has the time for this; but when she ran into Finn's mother at the grocery store and was asked to come back for coffee or something, she couldn't say no. She was just planning on baking some banana bread anyway.

Carole sits down at the table with her coffee and Rachel continues playing nervously with the string on the tea bag, dipping it slowly and methodically into and out of the water.

"You're probably wondering what kind of a switch I've flipped if I'm asking you to follow me all the way back here," Carole starts. Rachel just smiles and rolls her shoulder up a little. "Well… there are really two reasons."

Now Rachel is intrigued and she leans forward. She couldn't come up with one reason, let alone two. Two reasons make her doubly uncertain and she doesn't want to show that in the slightest.

"First, Finn told me you are worried what I think of you." Carole smiles and looks down into her cup. "I'm not very good at this kind of thing, you know; this… this confrontation. I guess that's what it would be called even if isn't necessarily negative. I-I.. Finn was really closed off about what happened between the two of you. In fact, it was Kurt who told me you two broke up and even then, the reasons were never given. However…" she shrugs and looks at Rachel. "Finn is, at the very least, a person who eventually figures out his own heart. It might take him some time, but once he decides to commit to something, he does so with his entire heart."

Carole looks up at Rachel and smiles. "I thought he was committed to you before, but… he's grown up a lot. I _know_ he's committed now. And it would be stupid of me to dislike the girl who is helping him become a man."

"I…" Rachel says, but there's just no way for her to respond.

"You seem to be able to push him, Rachel; and you only do it with his best interests at heart. He wants to be someone and you're the only girl he's brought home who can inspire him to do that while still supporting who he really is. He seemed lost without that for a while, but it's back with a vengeance and so no—I don't dislike you. I'm grateful to you."

"The second reason I asked you to follow me is a little more complicated. I'm really asking you kind of a favor even though it's something you would probably do anyway."

"Okay…" Rachel says. She sets the cup down, back to nervous again. _Carole wouldn't… this won't have anything to do with sex, right? _

"Well, I'm sure Finn has told you Burt and I are going out of town, but what I don't know is if he told you why." Rachel shakes her head and Carole nods. "Okay, well…you may or may not know about the Memorial Garden in Columbus. It's a quiet little place with where you can walk around and see the names of all the Ohio natives killed in the service of their country."

Rachel frowns a little, remembering a beautiful garden with a pool of placid water filled to the brim. She peered over the side at her reflection and wondered if any of the features she saw matched the face of her great-grandfather, who had died in World War II (according to Leroy). They found his name on the wall later on and she traced over it with a purple crayon to do a 'rubbing' they took home and framed.

"Are the walls arranged in a small maze?" Rachel asks. Her Daddy had held her close, refusing to let her run, and saying it was a place to be solemn. She could see pictures of the trip in her head even though she couldn't have been more than six years old.

"Yes," Carole says. "Well…I haven't been since Christopher's name was officially added to the Gulf War Memorial Wall. Burt is taking me for the anniversary of Christopher's death, which falls next week. He was killed on July 7th and this will be the fifteenth anniversary."

Rachel just continues her steady staring, unsure what to say.

"Finn refuses to come," Carole says, smiling against the tears in her eyes. "He's…he says he thinks it might be a little bit insulting to Burt because Burt is more like his dad since he can't even remember Christopher. But still…he seems a little off every year around this time, and I think it's worse this year considering the wedding. I'm glad he's moving on and he's accepting Burt but I don't want him to be alone because I choose to remember things he can't recall."

"Are you asking me to stay here with him?"

"No," Carole says sharply. She chuckles a little and wipes at her eyes. "Just…well, I know you had wanted to do something for your fun summer and I thought of something that might be perfect to cheer him up a little. I'd like you to consider doing it while we're gone because I think you'll be able to make it into something perfect for him in a way no one else could."

Rachel tries not to smile as she takes another drink of her tea. She sets the cup down and finally lets her smile break free; she had been ruminating about it since his off-kilter behavior last night and she's grateful for his mother's insight. "I'm listening."

* * *

><p>"Just open it," Rachel says, her voice low and slow. "You have to before I let you touch me or before we go outside," she says simply. He tilts his head and lets her nibble on his earlobe and his eyes fall closed when she kisses the side of his neck.<p>

"I don't wanna go outside. I kinda just want to keep doing this. I want to see what you're going to use to get me to open this."

"I have tricks up my sleeve but it's a _gift_. Gifts are fun and you should open it. Plus you need it to do this today."

"Why won't you just tell me what we have planned?" He asks. "Is it that bad? Are you going to have to talk me into it?"

"No. And it didn't require persuading for the others to join us later, either."

"…others?" He asks skeptically. He looks over at her, forgetting about the small bag in his lap and she tilts her head to the side. He is probably the most outgoing person she knows. He's never just alone and so now she knows he's feeling more in-the-dumps than he's been letting on. He sees the look she's giving him though, and so he finally dips his hand into the blue and bright green striped bag to pull out a waterproof camera. He raises an eyebrow and comes out with sunscreen on his next grab. He can tell by the weight of the bag there's something else, and he pulls out a swimsuit that… well, it matches the bag. Seriously. He can't even handle it and he starts to laugh because she's trying to cheer him up and she's just awesome.

"Okay, okay…" he agrees. "And the thing I love about you today is you won't let me sit here and think too much… like that's really a problem I have."

She shakes her head and leans forward a little to kiss his cheek, and his eyes open while she's pressed against him and he can't believe it's the first time he's noticed it but she isn't wearing a bra and her little dress looks more like it's covering a swimsuit than it is an actual dress. He pulls at the high neckline and looks down inside and she scoffs, slapping at his hand.

"Excuse me?"

He just laughs. "I was wondering if your swimsuit matches mine."

"No," she says simply. "But go put it on and you'll see the rest of what we're doing."

So he gets dressed and they horse around for a minute when she tells him he should take his t-shirt off and he points out she's wearing an entire dress—complete with a belt—that is just for the purpose of hiding her body when she's wearing a swimsuit. They finally go outside – her hand on his stomach and pushing his shirt as they go and her dress thing untied and the belt somewhere still in the basement, so the thing is fitting so loose the neck has slipped way down almost past her chest and he can see her swimsuit anyway. Finn decides he won that round.

And his backyard is totally decked out. His old Slip & Slide is set up, there's a sprinkler underneath the trampoline he didn't even realize they still _had_, volleyball net is set up; there a couple cheap, blue plastic kids' pools, and a whole bunch of coolers all over the place. He looks over at her.

"What…what did you do?" He asks. He only glances at her before he's sweeping over the yard and taking it all in.

"It's a backyard water park," she says simply.

"How long… like… when did you come over and set this stuff up? You could've woken me up." He holds her a little tighter and finally looks away from the awesome display to see the awesome girl. She tugged her big, black sunglasses down over her eyes and she looks like something out of a magazine and he moves his arm so her dress thing slips a little more.

"Kurt came out to help and we started around eight. It's not a big deal, Finn. I just wanted to do something fun. And your mom said you used to go to places like this, on a grander scale, every year around this time."

He nods. "Yeah, I think it was just to cheer her up, but she doesn't need to do that anymore," he says. His voice isn't bitter, but whatever is in the tone makes her frown.

"I just want this to be fun for _you_," she says softly. She tilts her head up to look at him. "We still have an hour before Kurt and Blaine and everyone else show up, so what should we do first?"

He pulls her down into the blue plastic kids' pool filled with sand and kisses her 'cause he's always wanted to make out with her at the beach.

It's the best time-out ever, basically.

* * *

><p>Puck brings beer and Rachel allows him to keep the alcohol this time, even if Finn laughs a little when she mutters something about it being 'unsanctioned' (he also brought something that appeals to the girls more, but they never define what it is beyond Rachel saying as long as it doesn't taste 'pink'…before her agreeing that it tastes like apples so it can stay, too). It actually helps with some of the more intense parts of the group—Rachel and Quinn actually gang up on Puck during the water volleyball tournament for one. Unfortunately, that means Puck walks around in nothing but a pair of Finn's boxers. He keeps groping at Quinn and they've started a small, quiet pool on how long it takes her to punch him or stab him somewhere sensitive with a plastic fork.<p>

At some point, Sam and Artie have a conversation about whether it's possible to make quicksand with nothing but two kiddie pools, some sand, and some water; they try and the "ocean" Rachel had set up (originally one pool with water, one pool with sand and a couple of Adirondack chairs—complete with the umbrella drinks she and Kurt were bringing out periodically) is basically gone. She's a good sport about it and, after their experiment fails, she at least rinses and refills the pool with clean water. It's way easier to refill their squirt guns that way.

It's also easier for Finn to end up dumping Sam into the water and the blonde guy screams like a girl about how cold it is before, soaking wet, he gives Finn a hug and makes him soaking wet, too. Mercedes takes pictures and Finn tells Rachel it'll be less than a week before Jacob Ben Israel lifts it from Mercedes' Facebook and blogs it with a debate on Finn's sexuality. Rachel tells him he _still_ doesn't have permission to grind the guy into the ground over her and he just doesn't mention that it'll probably have to happen eventually.

Quinn, Santana, and Brittany spend close to an hour teaching various combinations of people how to do signature Cheerios moves on the trampoline and they end up playing a soaking wet game of Crack the Egg until everyone is freezing and the trampoline has a lake underneath it so they turn the sprinkler off. They eat, they play on the slip and slide (even Finn surprisingly still fits on it and can slide a good four feet before he eats grass), and the boys manage to get the girls into a water balloon war.

By the time Puck calls to order pizza (and mysteriously manages to provide more alcohol), they're all sunburned, soaking wet, laughing, and totally exhausted. Blaine is the best sport because he got nailed with about four different colors of Kool-Aid water balloons during their epic balloon battle; even though Kurt refuses to touch him based on fear of 'dye transfer', he's laughing just as hard as the rest of them (and Rachel points out to Finn that Kurt has an orange handprint on his back that he probably knows nothing about).

It's a good day and Finn is cheered up for sure because he has this crazy mix of real friends and family in his life, and he knows only Rachel could manage to show him that. He used to think he was missing everything because his dad died, but now… now he has a dad, a brother, and a whole family. He wasn't missing _everything_ and now he thinks maybe he _has_ everything—at least, everything he needs.

* * *

><p>Hands down, though, the best part of the day is during fireworks. Finn and Rachel break away from the group and climb through Kurt's bedroom window onto the roof at the front of the house. There's a perfect view of Lima Municipal Park, where they will have a huge fireworks show starting any time. Finn's all sprawled out on the still-warm roof and Rachel is cradled against his chest with her legs wrapped in his and his mouth at her ear. Her hair is still wet, but he doesn't really mind. She shivers a little and he holds her tighter; maybe he can text Kurt and have the guy bring them a blanket or something.<p>

But once he holds her a little tighter, the first tester firework goes off and she shrinks against him even more and he knows it's not about the cold.

"What's wrong?" He asks, leaving his chin on her shoulder.

She sniffles a little. _Oh, crap. This is serious_.

He runs his hands down her arms. The fireworks show starts, but at least the park is far enough away they can still talk because the fireworks are more like pops than booms.

"Seriously, you're freaking me out," he says. He can see tears sparkling on her cheeks and it's bringing him down after she worked her ass off and gave him an epic day. He feels really bad and maybe a little nervous.

"Do fireworks remind you of anything?" She asks. Even with the pops instead of booms, he can barely hear her but she's leaning against him more and more and he thinks he might be the only thing actually holding her up.

He thinks for a minute. Like, an actual _solid_ minute. (That's a really long time.) He turns his head and he can see most of the New Directions and a good-sized handful of Warblers in the backyard, all running around with sparklers and chatting and stuff. And sometimes he wishes they were both still that carefree, but he knows they aren't. They have history—like more than the class—and baggage. They have dead parents and missing parents and all kinds of family issues and issues and …

His eyes land on Quinn and they narrow a little bit. She is saying something in Puck's ear and he thinks it's pretty easy to actually pretend the last year didn't happen, but it did. And all the feelings from the stuff that happened, they aren't actually gone yet. That goes for the good and the bad ones.

And he's thinking Rachel feels the same way, which…well…he saw her at prom with Jesse and he saw her kiss Jesse. It was about two hours total, and it sucked. Rachel watched him actually move on and she did it for months. And there's really nothing he can do about that 'cause he doesn't totally know how it feels. But he remembers how it felt kissing Quinn and he sort of remembers saying that to her and he isn't all that surprised, during the minute he thinks about it, that Rachel remembers, too.

But really, the only thing he can do in this case to help is to just blow it off. Because, in the end, his mouth leaked out something he didn't mean the way she took it (like normal) and it just didn't mean what she thinks it did; it was just even worse 'cause he was half-asleep and out of his mind and sick and heartsick. In the end, it meant nothing because she's here with him right now and neither of them will lose anything without talking about this or gain anything from talking about it.

"Nope," he says eventually, going back to her question once his minute is up. She turns her head in surprise so he kisses her mouth instead of the cheek he was going for. _Win_. He kisses her until she relaxes against him and then he pulls away enough to ask the dangerous question. "You?"

Her eyes land off to the side at their friends in his backyard with their sparklers, writing words (Puck is trying to get Quinn to write _fuck_ with hers and it's she's half pissed and half trying not to smile and they can both tell that even from where they're sitting). She looks back at him and takes a deep breath. "I hate sparklers. I accidentally burned my dad with one when I was five and I haven't touched one since."

He smiles wide. He has a new goal for next year, then. She makes him feel better about his dad and he'll make her feel better about sparklers. But for now… well… the other thing he noticed was that no one is paying attention to them, all alone up on the roof. So he pushes his mouth back against hers and starts to lay them back a little.

The pitch of the roof is kind of awkward, though, and she stops him with her hand on his chest even though she never breaks their kiss. She turns and latches her hands against the curve of his neck to give her the leverage she needs to straddle him. Her cover-up is still missing its belt and it's super easy for him to get his hands on the bare skin of her stomach. He feels her heartbeat speed up when he touches her skin and she drops down to grind against him. Her presses her hands to his cheeks and turns her head, giving his mouth easier access. He leans back on his free hand, giving her more room to press against his chest, and lets his other hand wander up the front of her to pinch at her nipple, pinching at rubbing at it through the fabric of her damp swimsuit. The warmth of her rubbing up against him reaches fever pitch when she starts grinding with more purpose, moving like waves against him in a way he recognizes. He moves his hand from her nipple and sits forward a bit, unsurprised when she moves her legs out from underneath herself and wraps them around his waist. Once she's settled, he brings one arm around her back to keep her close and one hand down to slip into her swim bottoms, rubbing the back of his finger against her center. She presses closer to it, but he drops his hand down, just a little away from where she _wants_ him to touch her and she grunts her frustration. He smiles while they're lips are still pressed together.

"You think you're_ so_ funny," she says simply.

"I think I _love_ this dress thing 'cause I can grope you without witnesses," he answers easily, done smiling and kissing her deeper.

Her hand drops down between them, too, and she pries open the Velcro on his swimshorts. Her hand is small and all she needs is that thing about halfway done before she slips her hand inside. Her hands are cool and he gasps a little at the contact. She swallows his gasp and keeps pressing eagerly against his hand.

It happens so fast. They're both _soaked_ and not in the fun way.

Plus, Finn's pretty sure he'll have a welt on his shoulder from the force of the water balloon that just crashed into him and exploded on them both at impact.

They both laugh, though. "I can throw _way _better than that. I hope he's prepared for destruction," Finn mutters, using the palm of his hand to brush a clump of wet hair off her cheek.

"I'm just pleased he's matured enough to throw something other than a Slushie," Rachel says, picking a bit of balloon latex off his wet shirt.

But apparently, he hasn't matured enough_ not_ to heckle them both off the roof and back down to their group. Nor has he matured enough he doesn't harass them mercilessly for feeling each other up in public.

Not that it stops them.


	13. Day Forty: Random Acts of Evil Genius

_**A/N:**__ Thanks to __**ja9**__ (iGoToExtremes) for the beta-on-demand. You're awesome. Thanks to __**Jen, Leo, Lizzie, and Laura **__(the usuals) for listening and giggling and helping me come up with ideas for this part. It was a lot of fun to write and I hope it shows. Please let me know. In the words of most Fildos, reviews=love. Also, if you have any ideas for this story, please email / PM / ask box. _

_**Disclaimer: **__I don't own Glee or anything else and no infringement is intended._

* * *

><p><strong>Day Forty: Random Acts of Evil Genius<strong>

They're walking out of the rec center at the same time and do that half handshake/half hand grab thing guys do and don't even have to stop walking forward to do it.

"'Sup, man?" Puck says.

"Hoping I don't die at football camp," Finn mutters. "You?"

"Same," he says. "But I don't have Berry's cookies all the time either so that probably helps."

Finn chuckles. Puck doesn't know she's basically cutting him off since he complained about how hard running sucks. With _baking_ that is—not other stuff. She actually calls other stuff exercise and he cares way more about her target heart rate or whatever else anyway. "Her baking is pretty awesome."

"So what's up with you and Rachel these days, anyway?"

Finn is just about to his truck so he slows and turns. "What?"

"You heard me. You two are all holed up together or some shit. That party at your house a couple days ago was only the second time I've seen you guys out all summer," Puck says. He fixes the twisted bag strap on his shoulder and looks at Finn expectantly. "You doin' it yet?"

There was a time when it would've been okay to talk—_brag_—about this with his best friend. That time is up. "What's up with you and Quinn?" He asks, deflecting the question.

Thing is, this is _not_ the first time they've had this conversation. In any combination of pairings, either.

"Fuck," Puck says and Finn knows he realizes it, too. The four of them just _cannot_ talk about this stuff anymore. "Well…I guess it's good. Yeah. I mean…" he shrugs awkwardly and Finn doesn't point out that's not exactly an answer 'cause he doesn't want to get into it any more than Puck does.

"Things are good. Rachel's good," Finn says. He has to say _something_ because they're friends. But he doesn't have to say much because of all the history. "I'll tell her you said hi."

Puck shrugs and nods. "Y'know, I'd tell Quinn the same but…I don't think she wants to hear from you."

Finn lets out a snort. She probably doesn't. The last time—okay. When they broke up the first time, it really bothered him and it was a big question mark. Like _if_ they would be friends again, how it would even be possible…but now it's not that big a question. He forced her into second place. He pushed her out of his life. He made the choice and he doesn't feel bad about it. He knows he will never be really real friends with Quinn again; once Glee is over for good, they probably won't even _see_ each other again. And he's totally fine with it. So he doesn't care if Puck passes along a hello or whatever else.

"Yeah, probably not. I gotta run," Finn mutters before they say 'see ya' and he moves to get into his truck. He stares out the window for a minute and thinks on it, and really?

If he's honest with himself, he's spent the whole summer so far (and it's only like halfway done) with Rachel, and sometimes with Kurt and Blaine, too; that's how the four of them want it. These other three people are the only ones he can see in his life at all past the coming school year. And for the first time, he realizes something simple: he _has _to be with them. Especially Rachel. Not, like, in a family sense or a 'home is where the heart is' sense. In a really real, physical place. He has to be with them.

He has to find a way to get to New York. That's his goal now for the whole school year. That's his goal for his life. And he just has to figure out a _way_. It seems like such a simple thing to think about, a simple thing to decide, that he wonders if he maybe made the decision a while ago and it took his head while to catch up. And in that second of disconnect, when he _knows_ what to do, he wishes this summer were over and it were next year already so he just had the answers already.

* * *

><p>He stops by the library and snags a book full of college shit to look at. Rachel has an afternoon voice lesson today (her last before she has to start rehearsals for that part she totally got in Van Wert—he's so proud of her) so they're doing a picnic later. It's hot as fuck outside today, though, so he might want to talk her into doing something else.<p>

He figures he's basically screwed if he dozes off reading through the catalogue thing, so he tries to pay attention and sits at his desk instead of in his bed. When it talks about high school GPAs for four pages, he thinks maybe he should just start with what's in front of him, then. He thinks about pulling out the summer reading for English, he remembers how two weeks ago Rachel took him to the mall and he might've bought a book about coaching football instead. But she didn't need to know that's what was in his bag.

Maybe they should go back to the mall tonight instead so he can get the right book and focus on his future. He's pretty sure she wouldn't blow it off if he suggests it. And maybe he could find something for them to do around that 'cause then he won't have to spend half the night shopping for…whatever girls shop for. Okay, to be honest, Rachel is pretty good about taking Kurt for the girl stuff and letting him hang out at Game Stop 'til she's done. But splitting up like that defeats the purpose of hanging out together for that staycation thing, so maybe he should make it more of an activity.

He's never really thought of activities to do at the mall 'cause he's usually too busy trying to figure out how to avoid the place altogether. Maybe Google can help with activities.

By the time Rachel gets to his house, mumbling about how she thinks it's too hot outside for a picnic while she's pulling her hair up off her neck, he has a plan.

Photo scavenger hunt.

He heard Kurt nearly fall out of his chair when he texted the idea. He supposes part of Kurt's surprise was because they're both in the same house and he was too lazy to walk upstairs. But Kurt added an awesome element to it. It's more like a secret mission; once they text their picture to Kurt or Blaine, they'll get their next assignment. (And no, he has no idea what the point is or if there's even a prize at the end. He never said the plan was complete.)

Surprisingly, Rachel is on-board with this. And he doesn't even mention the school-related item.

They don't even ride over with Kurt and Blaine and the first thing Rachel really wants is an iced coffee, so they get her one from Cinnabon and he resists the urge to actually get a cinnamon roll because sometimes it's just too hot outside to eat something hot. Or warm. Whatever, four minutes after they sit down in the food court for her to drink, he goes back and gets one. That's about the point they get their first text from Kurt.

_Rachel wearing the most expensive pair of sunglasses in the mall._

Finn frowns and downs his food in record time while Rachel makes a plan. He vaguely remembers coming sunglasses shopping with Quinn once, like when she had her dad's credit card before the whole baby thing and everything else. She did maximum damage with that thing and he remembers gagging on the price. Where were they? He totally won't tell Rachel how he knows, but…

"We should just go to Macy's."

She looks over at him with questions in her eyes, but her competitive nature has been sparked enough she even understood him while his mouth was full.

"Macy's? Okay. But what are we going to dare them to do?"

He tilts his head, thinks while he chews, and then texts Kurt a request for a picture of Kurt playing the most violent video game GameStop has on display. (Finn's already been in there, it's Gears of War.) Rachel just shakes her head and rolls her eyes when she sees.

For the record, he's keeping, like, all fourteen of the pictures they take of her in the Fendi sunglasses. Especially the four where she's blowing him kisses. They wait on a bench by the women's dressing room for further instructions and he sees _THAT _guy waiting with his girlfriend's purse. And he's pretty glad Rachel doesn't ever turn him into that dude, because he would totally do it but he doesn't really _want_ to.

After a picture of Finn building a robot at a Lego table in the food court, a picture of both of them zipped into a sleeping bag in the camping display at Kohl's (he thinks of the making out and being pushed together for a few minutes as just an added bonus), and a picture of Finn wearing lipstick from the samples at the makeup counter, Kurt ups the ante.

_We found a movie we want to go see, so this is the last one and you have 20 minutes. Find a stranger who will pretend to perform a marriage ceremony between the two of you and film it._

Rachel lets out a giggle as she looks at it and she takes Finn's phone to text their reply. He doesn't know what she's going to say, but he's sure it'll be good. They already have pictures of Blaine wearing a corset (his clothes are underneath) from Victoria's Secret, Blaine miming something disturbing with some sort of sex toy from Spencer's, and Kurt wearing a children's blazer at The Children's Place (the best part of that one was the 'fat man in a little coat' label from Blaine that made Finn laugh 'til he was sick and that he had to explain to Rachel); he doesn't know how they could top this.

He takes the phone when she sends the message and looks at it blankly.

_One person chugs an entire soda and then orders something from the food court. The winner will be the person who completes their food order without belching._

"Um, babe… dontcha think what we have to do is way more embarrassing?" He stops her with his hand on her arm.

"What? That's a skill of yours I've always… _admired_. Appreciated, even." She looks at him. "At least, the way you can avoid belching around me at all."

He raises his eyebrows and looks at her questioningly. "Well, maybe we're at that part of our relationship where I should let it go… I could burp the alphabet _right now _if you really want me to."

"You could do that right now?" She asks.

He stops and thinks about it. "Yeah. Pretty sure I could."

She smiles slowly. "Well, please don't. And by that, I mean _ever_. The beautiful part here is Blaine will insist Kurt does the task because Blaine won't drink soda."

"You just basically guaranteed Kurt will burp in front of a total stranger?" He asks, bypassing why she knows so much about Blaine, and he smiles when she nods. "You're an evil genius."

She shrugs. He wonders when she started taking compliments so lightly.

It should be noted, she also singlehandedly convinces the guy with a goatee, tattoos all over his throat, and gauges bigger around than Finn's fingers, to perform an impromptu wedding ceremony for them. Even if he pronounces them man and wife 'in the eyes of a God I don't believe in' and then invites them to go their way and live in sin, at least he does it with a smile on his face. Rachel uses their extra seven minutes to discover his name is Rob and he's also a drummer—he invites them out to see his metal band play and is disappointed they're too young to get into the bar.

They sit down to watch the video before they send it on to Kurt, but before they can even get it playing again, Blaine comes running around the corner and he's still laughing so hysterically he can barely run and barely talk when he comes up to where they're sitting on the edge of the fountain with their heads pressed together.

"We have to—we have—to—have to save—save Kurt," Blaine chokes out over what can only be described as his giggles.

Finn shoots him a confused look and Blaine pulls his phone out and queues up the video of Kurt.

Kurt, who burps the biggest belch _any_ of them have heard. Judging by the look on the Arby's dude's face, he totally smells that thing. Before the play button pops up to cover Kurt, it's totally obvious he's standing there, frozen in shock.

Rachel is laughing as hard as Blaine is and Blaine starts up again. Finn can't really help himself either. Kurt is_ still_ standing in horror at the Arby's desk and Finn and Blaine carry him over to the chairs to sit him down.

And that's how Kurt and Blaine were declared the Shopping Mall Picture/Video Scavenger Hunt champions of 2011. (And how Rachel ended up doing Kurt's laundry for one week in the middle of the summer.)


	14. Day Forty Eight: Sad Can't Catch Me

_**A/N:**__ Okay, this wasn't all I had planned for this part, but it works and it was a nice place to stop. I hope you all enjoy—please let me know as always. Thank you for the amazing response to this up til now. Thanks **Jen** (**wants2beawriter**) for the reading and encouraging, regardless of the fact you were on the train while doing it. This part owes anything good in it to you and your tireless support. And if anyone is looking for some major angsty heartbreak, check out our collaboration, **All the Wrong Things on Fire** posted under her name. It's like the total opposite of this story._

_**Disclaimer: **__I don't own Glee or anything affiliated therewith. I also do not own the song __**Room the End of the World **__by __**Matt Nathanson**__, but that's where I borrowed the chapter title from._

* * *

><p><strong>Day Forty Eight: Sad Can't Catch Me and Call Me Baby<strong>

So his mom is involved in this staycation planning and he's pretty sure that sucks worse than anything else in his life at the moment. Don't get him wrong, he _loves_ that his mom loves Rachel and Rachel loves his mom. He loves they've come back together in all that so now Rachel is just totally comfortable at his house again and he doesn't _hate_ when Carole asks for Rachel's help cooking. He's even tolerated it a couple times in the last week or so when Carole, Rachel, and Kurt all went shopping together. They invited him to come, sure, but he said no (of course- he isn't _totally_ crazy). Plus, it gave him a chance to teach Blaine the basics on the new Halo. He knows Rachel and Kurt are planning some sort of a video gaming marathon in a couple weeks and he needs to have at least _one_ person who knows the difference between the start button and the joystick.

That sounds dirty, but it isn't.

Anyway, so he's not stoked about his mom complaining when she found a dirty cup (not, like, a _cup_…but like one he'd had a drink in) that was stuck to the corner of his desk. And he's even less excited about her saying this to Rachel; Rachel has refused to set foot in his room for the last three days and she's only doing it now because she claims it's 'exploring her adventurous side'.

Whatever, she's just hoping she'll find the underwear she accidentally left here. (He's _so_ not telling where those are.)

Fast forward through all that to now when Rachel is standing there, looking at him with her hands on her hips.

"…taking away video games might be the only option here. I mean, I'm _not_ your mother and I definitely don't want to resort to that, but _Finn_…gracious… if you really want me to spend any time in here you've got to do _something_. It seems as though all you do while you play that thing is eat potato chips."

He looks over at the floor. Yes, there are some crumbs. _So? _

"Sometimes I eat other things, like popcorn…cheese and crackers…maybe a sandwich." He nods and smiles. "You know what sounds awesome right now? PB and J."

Rachel sighs and looks at him without a smile. "You're right; we've been at this for a while."

He sighs in relief. "I _knew_ you would see this my way. Let's just go get some lunch and then we'll start again."

"I've been here for twenty whole minutes, Finn. And it's a quarter to eleven. We aren't taking a break for lunch for _at least_ an hour."

He groans and tips back onto his bed, smacking his head on the bookshelf directly next to his bed. He'd had a pillow strategically placed there, but the first thing Rachel did was have him put his sheets in the washer. Pillowcase had to be removed. He looks down to the side of his bed. The naked pillow is _right_ there. Maybe if he moves slowly she won't see him grab it because that shelf is kind of digging in and…

She kneels on top of him, crawling across the queen-sized bed before planting a knee on either side of his waist. She kisses his cheek and he redirects his face. He could get used to this part of cleaning his room—the part where she's here.

Y'know. _Helping._

(And she even turned the music up loud so his mom would close the door. She really is a pretty good girlfriend. And he's surprised his mom fell for that. Years of a son who plays drums probably damaged her hearing or something so she normally doesn't care if his music is turned up.)

So anyway, even though she's kissing on his neck which is like an instant hard-on, he decides it probably does benefit them both if he actually stops complaining and gets this done. The sooner the better, and really it's not _that_ bad. He's honestly tried to stay on top of the room situation for specifically this reason. They've just been busy and it sort of got away from him.

And the cup…the cup was Kurt's fault. _Stinking 'lady chats'_. Even if they _do_ mean he and Kurt are planning a surprise double date for after football camp starts and so that's been their main focus lately.

"So just come help me," she says, backing away from her kiss and sliding her hand inside his shirt and over his stomach. "And then we can get to the fun part of the day. Because you _know_ this wasn't what I had planned."

Her face is so close and he lets his eyes look over it. "Okay," he says quietly. "Where do you think I should start?"

She gives him a soft kiss and he knows he asked that question the right way. The key with Rachel is to ask for her ideas, not to make her think she's giving orders. She totally _enjoys _giving them, but she feels like a bitch if they're orders instead of _suggestions_. He's learning and remembering how it all works. And she's making it totally worth it—as if he ever doubted she would.

And that's what he thinks he loves about her today. Sure, she's not _easy_. There are a lot of tricks to dating Rachel, but it's not like Jedi mind tricks or whatever. There are just ways of handling her built into their everyday lives that help her feel better about herself. There are little tiny things he can do that make her so happy, and then when he realizes he's doing them, he knows he's a good boyfriend and it makes him feel good, too.

It's so much better than dating Quinn where he just got doubted and cut down and whatever _all the time_. Sure, there were times she said she was proud or times when she acted like she even _liked_ him, but…but these little things are always there with Rachel and it's just so much better for him, honestly. He knows that now. It's more where he belongs and where he's really actually happy.

"I love how you make everything fun and like an adventure," he says. He gives her another kiss before he grabs her thighs to hold her steady while he sits up.

She smiles slowly. "Well…I feel like I'm in a jungle, so I guess that's an adventure. Like maybe a cat I didn't know you have is going to jump out from the foliage and try to eat my arm."

He raises an eyebrow because, well… she's dramatic. It's no secret. "It's not _that_ bad."

"Finn, I've seen fur."

"Oh you have _not_," he manages through his laughter as he starts to slide off the bed.

"I love how you can laugh at me and not make me feel like an idiot," she says. He can feel her eyes looking at him as he's moving to start going through the clothes on the floor. He knows what she's doing. She's part serious and part trying to get him back on the bed. She's so _obvious_.

But he actually does want to clean the room so she'll be comfortable there. He wants her in his room and in his bed and…he just can't get into all that with her right now. So.

"Well, sometimes you're really funny," he says with a shrug, stooping down to grab the three days' worth of t-shirts that have accumulated. He grabs shorts in his other hand and heads toward the closet for his hamper. He thinks he sees her peeking around at the floor now that she can see carpet and _no, Rach, I'm not so stupid I would leave your underwear in the middle of my bedroom floor even if they had a protective layer over them._ Geez.

His mom knocks on the door about an hour later, and honestly he's almost done. At this point, they've remade the bed with clean sheets and he told Rachel to just lay there and do her summer reading for English (_Crime and Punishment_ looks like a really long book; he's glad he just has to—in theory—read _Old Man and the Sea_. Then again, getting to New York might be easier if he took the harder classes, but…well…there isn't much he can do about all that now). He's pretty glad _this_ is when his mom comes in. She tells them lunch is ready and downstairs. Kurt and Blaine are gone somewhere for the afternoon and she has to be to work in an hour so she's leaving. He thanks her for the food and then gives her a big hug because she's awesome.

And more importantly, she's leaving him _alone_ in the house with his girlfriend _and_ a clean bed. Not many moms would do that, and he's not sure she's doing it on purpose either, but regardless she doesn't say anything and he's pretty grateful to her for all of it (but not going to point it out.)

They eat their peanut butter and strawberry jelly sandwiches quietly and, because the room is clean, he doesn't bring the bag of chips back upstairs with him like he normally would. He's guessing the small smile Rachel gives him is her thanks for that.

So, the thing with his room in this new house is the bookshelves are built into the wall all the way up to just below the tall ceiling. And he really wanted to push his bed up against the wall and whatever, so it worked out perfectly to put his bed right by the built-in bookshelf. It doesn't start 'til about four feet off the ground anyway, so otherwise, it was a waste of wall space (Kurt's words) and this way he has a spot for his desk on the other wall because the opposite window is too big for him to put it there. If his bed was pulled out from the wall, he couldn't have a chair. His new room is good sized, but it's more long than anything and so is his bed and… yeah, so is _he_. At least he fits in this room and this bed.

The other benefit he didn't think of until Rachel is helping him clean his room is that she can use the bed like it's a step stool that she needs to reach the top shelf because it's about three feet over her head. She's been muttering something that suspiciously sounds like _vaulted ceilings_ and _bitch_ while she's trying to put the small box of old cd's up on the top shelf.

Right now, she's literally jumping on his bed trying to reach and it's not working out too well for her. He was just coming back from putting the vacuum away in the hall closet and he leans on the doorframe, folding his arms to watch her with amusement.

"You know…when I told you that I loved how you could laugh without making me feel like an idiot? Well, I take that back because I feel supremely stupid and you're laughing," she comments without even looking over her shoulder.

He rolls his eyes and pushes himself away from the door frame. He takes the box from her gently then reaches up easily and puts it on the shelf where she was intending it go. It's the last thing they have to put away before he's declaring them finished cleaning his room.

He'll keep the declaration quiet though 'cause they're home alone and his room is clean and she's on his bed. What can he say? It feels good to have priorities, and announcing they're finished has nothing on kissing her because she's _on his bed_.

So he grabs her and presses her against him as he drops onto the bed. He trips a little over the bean bag at the end of his bed but considering they have a soft place to land it's not the end of the world. She laughs a little but her eyes aren't dancing like they do when she's giggling and happy and silly. She's looking at him like she wants to make out.

He's pretty sure time out is in order.

So he kisses her forever and then tells her thank you for the help and tickles her until she sounds like she's out of breath from laughing. It's only when she hears the front door open that she sits up a little and (sadly) refastens her bra closed that he realizes the time out wasn't her plan for the evening. She tells him they're doing a carpet picnic with Kurt and Blaine and, as much as he wanted to fly solo all night with her, he thinks the foursome is more than okay. And he loves her because this whole summer is more than just okay, too. But he already gave her a reason for today so that one will wait for tomorrow.

He wonders what she has planned for tomorrow, and he wonders how it could beat today. Somehow, though, she always manages.


	15. Day Fifty Four: Didn't See That Coming

**A/N:** So… major thanks to Lizzie (**Paceismyhero**) for her assistance here. It's a true friend who will Google blow job euphemisms for you. Also thanks to Jen (**wants2beawriter**) during our tit-for-tat. I still think I got the better end of that deal m'dear. And definite thanks and major ones at that to everyone for reading, reviewing, reblogging, ask boxing, and everything else. It makes me happy. Also, just a friendly reminder that this **story is rated M for sex** and it's specifically because of content such as this.

**Disclaimer:** I don't own Glee or anything affiliated with Glee.

* * *

><p><strong>Day Fifty-Four: Didn't See That One Coming<strong>

Yeah, this was _so_ not the actual plan for the day.

Finn shoots a glance over to Rachel and then back up at his mom, letting his eyes move slowly and not saying a word. Rachel has her head down and, although she's got her fingers tucked into his palm on the table top, that's the only real sign of life from her.

Carole _was_ talking, stammering (and Rachel kind of knows how Finn comes by it—who knew it was a genetic trait?), and pacing all at once but now she's not talking either. He thinks maybe now is his opening to say _something_ but since he doesn't really know _what_ and he's stuck between these two girls, he just keeps his mouth shut.

And keeps hoping Kurt will return home early because somehow it seems like the only way to end this conversation _and_ this situation. That's really what he wants…for this to just end.

Rachel can feel his eyes on her but she just can't look at him. Her house is only about fifteen minutes away from his, and her Daddy was home today (yet another weekend getaway he was preparing for). Carole has already called and he's on his way over to pick her up and this is just…she feels like she's about ten years old. She isn't sure how her dads are going to approach the situation, but Carole is freaking out and that's bad enough. Carole is usually the collected picture of calm, cool, and understanding. She's direct and soothing all at once, but now—well, she's rattled. They had just gotten to a friendly and comfortable point and Rachel's reasonably certain that point is past.

The doorbell rings, slicing through the tense silence, and they all look up as if it were scripted. Rachel lets out a deep breath and hopes to see a smile tickling the corner of Leroy Berry's mouth; she just doesn't know what to expect. She knows, because Carole actually took his phone number into her own cell phone to place the call for him to pick Rachel up, the parents will have this conversation later (although Carole was at least a little specific on the phone and Rachel cringed at the words leaving her boyfriend's mother's mouth.) This means she's going to have to face her Daddy right now. Carole looks at Rachel and Finn both, and Finn excuses himself to walk Rachel to the door.

Even if he's totally embarrassed—utterly humiliated—she really appreciates that he won't leave her hanging. He opens the door, still latched onto her hand, and looks at her dad cautiously.

"Finn," Leroy Berry intones, the word neutral.

"Hi," Finn says simply. He doesn't offer an apology because…well, he's _not_ sorry. He's just sorry they got caught. He's reasonably certain Rachel feels the same way. He's not going to apologize for it and he's _definitely_ not saying it won't happen again.

They have_ got_ to get a lock or something.

Finn turns to Rachel and leans down to brush a kiss against her cheek, the one her dad can't see. "I love you," he breathes. "Call me, okay?"

He feels her head move slightly against his lips when she nods her agreement. She turns her head again and catches her lips against his in just a quick, light kiss. His eyes dart over to her dad when her fingers tickle at his ear and he sees the man trying not to smile.

Rachel_ so_ has the better end of this deal. Her dad isn't mad. He's _amused_—probably because_ he_ didn't actually see anything.

Finn has to repress his shudder because now he has to go face his mom. That's not going to be pretty. She's been holding onto all of her words while Rachel was here. They have to come out sometime—because that's just how his mom is.

It's something his mom and Rachel have in common. And he's honestly looking forward to the conversation with Rachel even less if that's possible.

Rachel's gone and he's sitting at the table for a solid three minutes before his mom says a word. He's trying really hard not to crawl out of his skin. As much as he felt like he should say something before, right now he knows he should _not_.

"Finn…I just… I'm just… I'm totally…" She sighs and sits down in front of him. "What were you thinking?"

He tries not to smile and folds his arms against his chest. He's slouching in his chair, trying really hard not to sit up because that's not his normal way to sit in these chairs and…if he looks normal he's thinking it's possible this conversation could still _be_ normal.

But then she asks that question and there is just _no_ way to really answer it safely.

"Mom…"

"No, don't _mom_ me. How long has this been going on?"

His face crumples a little bit; he isn't sure if he's annoyed with her question or what, but he knows for sure he doesn't want to talk about it. Like—yes, he's close with his mother. He's probably told her more than a lot of his friends would tell their parents (except Rachel because she's almost freakishly close to her dads considering how little they're actually around); that doesn't mean she knows much. And it definitely doesn't mean he wants her to know more than she already does about, y'know…sex stuff. Like they had that chat when he was eleven, and again when he was thirteen, and _again _when Quinn got knocked up.

And _again_ when the baby wasn't actually his. But whatever—details. She doesn't necessarily need to know more of them, does she?

"Not that long," he says, moving his eyes away from her. The kitchen cabinets seem like an awesome place for him to look right now. They're really interesting. _Really_.

"Finn…I understand how relationships progress. I'm not stupid."

He looks at her with a frown. "I never said you were."

"Are you guys…" she lets out a long breath. "Are you guys having sex? And please tell me you're at least being _safe_."

He swallows hard. "No, we're not having sex," he says simply.

She lets out a dry laugh. "And how long is _that_ going to last?"

He looks down at the table and what do you know? It's more interesting to look at than the cabinets. His stomach falls down a little bit like that's even possible and he thinks he might throw up. He rubs his eye with his hand. "Probably a long time, mom. I…I…"

He's just going to have to tell her, isn't he? That sucks _hard._

"I'm not…I'm not a _virgin_anymore, Mom."

Her eyes widen. He hasn't looked up, but he can _feel _it. She doesn't say anything at first and he's trying to figure out how to explain anything without explaining _everything_.

"You said you didn't have sex with Quinn when we…"

He nods. "Yeah, I didn't," he confirms. He finally looks up at her. "I didn't ever."

"So then…"

"Rachel still _is_ one, though. And…and…" he groans and leans forward to bury his head in his hands.

"Did you _cheat_ on her?" Carole asks, her voice no more than a horrified and scratchy whisper. "Is that why… I mean, Kurt said you…"

"Mom…" he protests. He shakes his head. "I just…I don't want to talk about it."

"Well, you _will _talk about it because it sounds like you're lying to me, and no matter how awkward the conversation, we're at least going to have an honest one. And you need to just start right now because I'm beginning to lose patience."

He sighs again and looks directly at her. "I had sex with someone else, one time, before me and Rachel were even dating. We've dated and broken up two other times now, and in between the first two times, I thought she had sex with someone else and it sucked ass and so I did it too, for bad reasons and with someone bad and…"

"Who?"

"It doesn't matter," he says evasively.

"It matters," she says. "This is what you don't understand. _Who_ you have sex with matters. I mean, I could probably honestly deal with you and Rachel doing…_that_…because you guys…well, it's just kind of a progression as I said before. But…Finn, I feel like I don't even know my own son."

"Look, the 'who and why' of it all really _doesn't _matter anymore. I know what and _who_ I want and I don't want to mess it all up with sex and Rachel is still like…we're just going super slow, okay?"

"It doesn't _look_ like it."

He huffs out a breath. "I think we've basically gone as far as we're going to for now. We've been back together for like two months and I already know what it's like to wish you hadn't done _that_. So…I'm going to make sure Rachel doesn't feel that way. Like, _for sure_."

"Well that's…that's sweet. I guess. But…you didn't cheat on her? When did you break up the first time? I don't…how don't I know about any of this?"

He shakes his head. "It just doesn't matter anymore, okay? I didn't say much about it."

"I know you didn't," she allows. "I mean obviously you didn't, but Finn…like I said, I feel like I don't know you. You obviously needed _someone _to talk to when you and Rachel broke up and you never said a word about it to me. I only knew because Kurt was so upset when he was trying to talk to you and you didn't include him, either. What happened?"

"Mom, I really don't want to talk about it."

"Well, I'm trying to decide how long you're grounded for, so…"

"That's totally unfair!" He protests, his voice hitting a higher than normal note and he squeezes his eyes closed in frustration. "I lied and she cheated when she found out, okay? That's why we broke up! Are you happy now?"

"No, I'm not happy!" She said. She smacked her hand down on the table. "You're back together and that's just okay? Lying is a big deal and a _bad_ thing! Who _are _you?"

He's sitting up on the edge of the chair now and he closes his eyes. "Mom…I lied because I was trying to protect her. See, when I slept with Santana, I kind of lied and told her I couldn't go through with it when she asked and—"

"—_Santana_?" Carole protests. "That girl has _quite _the rep—"

"Fuck!" Finn says as she echoes the name, and her eyes get wide. She reaches out and swats his arm.

"_Finn!_ Do _not_ talk to me that way!"

He finally lets out a frustrated noise, ceasing his protests to her protests, and drops his head on the table. This just got out of control too fast. He wishes there was a reset button on the whole conversation. He bangs his head on the table a couple of times and then sits up again. That'll have to be good enough.

"Okay, I'll just tell you the whole thing, once. Don't say anything 'til I'm done," he argues. He looks down at the table again and talks fast. The sooner this is over, the better.

"Me and Santana did it once before me and Rachel ever got together and I lied when Rachel asked 'cause…y'know. I wished what I said was true and not was what…whatever. It didn't matter 'cause San told Rachel in front of everyone like a week after the wedding and Rachel was pissed about it. But we finally worked it out and then she told me she went off with Puck and they made out or whatever and…and I dumped her for it. And it sucked."

"You left out the part where I had to be nice to Quinn Fabray for approximately four months."

"No I didn't. I said it sucked. Not being with Rachel…like it all just sucked, okay?"

"That's pretty disrespectful to Quinn," she says openly.

He sighs and his gaze kind of darts out the window and Rachel's car is still out front because she drove herself here earlier. "It wasn't like that. I mean, I thought going back with Quinn for a while would help."

"Help with what?" She asks, folding her arms against her chest.

"I dunno…everything I guess. I felt like crap after what Rachel did. Like I don't think crap is a strong enough word. I _still_ don't want to get into it. It's over and that's all that really matters."

Carole opens her mouth to speak again, but at that exact moment, Kurt enters with a box tucked under his arm.

"Anyone want a popsicle? They gave Blaine a whole case of them," Kurt says by way of greeting.

_Way to read the room, dude_, Finn thinks. Before he can say any of that out loud, though, his mom beats him to it.

"Save one for Rachel," she says, her gaze slipping back to Finn. "She loves those kinds of things."

Finn can actually _feel_ the red creeping up his neck and into his face. He ducks his head and tries to hide his face in his hands but doesn't say anything.

Kurt turns to regard them both with a curious frown. "Did I step in something here?"

"Oh no." Carole says. "Compared to what I walked into, you're _perfectly_ fine."

"God, _mom_," Finn mutters under his breath, still unable to raise his head.

"Oh, you honestly think _you're_ the most embarrassed person in the room right now?" Carole snaps. "I can guarantee you aren't. And here's the thing, Finn: really, you are almost eighteen years old and the physical relationship you share with your girlfriend is virtually none of my business. I'm perfectly happy to remain blissfully unaware of any of that with the simple guideline that you are smart and as 'safe' as possible with your actions. I'm always _willing_ to discuss it, but I am _not_ willing to _witness_ it at random. Therefore, you two will not be alone in this house until further notice. _Period_. Are we clear?"

Finn nods. Kurt stares. And Carole leaves the room, muttering something about needing a drink.

"What the _hell _was _that_ all about?" Kurt gasps, still standing safely over by the freezer with wide, blue eyes. He's watching Finn while slowly unwrapping a blue Popsicle. As soon as it's unwrapped, he moves to walk out of the kitchen. Finn is still sitting at the table that's right next to the doorway.

As Kurt passes by (just so Finn doesn't have to say it _loudly_), Finn manages. "Let's just say Mom caught me and Rachel in a hummer." He stands up and turns toward Kurt in time to see his brother's somewhat confused expression.

The Popsicle is still in Kurt's mouth as he frowns and mutters around it. "I thought your truck was a Ford."

The look on Finn's face is not amused. He grabs Kurt's wrist and pumps the Popsicle in and out of Kurt's mouth. "Use your imagination…or ask Blaine. Just…just don't do it when my mom or your dad could even maybe be home."

Kurt chokes a little bit and Finn leaves the room, intent on hiding from his entire family for the rest of the night.

* * *

><p>Rachel looks at her dad as he drives back toward their house. He's fiddled with the radio and set the music at a comfortable volume so they <em>could<em> talk, but he's the kind of dad who doesn't _make_ her talk. And she's the kind of daughter who usually does it on her own.

She's not starting the conversation this time, though.

"You know, Pumpkin…" he says and her face crumples. That is _not_ her favorite nickname, but at the same time, he has called her that since the Halloween costume when she was nearly one year old. Or so she's heard. "That boy really loves you."

She nods. "Yes, Daddy. I believe he does." He can't really look at her because he's driving but she looks at him and it looks like he's smiling. His posture is not tense and he seems…well, remarkably okay for a man whose daughter was caught in a compromising position with her boyfriend.

"That's the only reason I'm not saying much," he admits. "Plus, I think he's afraid I'm going to kill him."

"And how do you feel about that?"

"Well, if what Carole Hummel said is accurate, there is no way he _forced_ you to do something," he says simply. "As much as I'm trying _not _to think about it, at least that much is very true."

"No," she agrees, her voice growing small. "Everything she witnessed was consensual."

"So really, otherwise, I honestly have no interest in hearing about it," he says gently. "You'll have to forgive me, but it seems I've found at least one restriction on our relationship and our usually open subject matter. It's just too difficult to think of my sweet, beloved daughter…"

"Understood," she agrees, cutting him off before he gets to the euphemism.

"Fantastic. He and I recently had a conversation about your continued…refrain from a deeply serious physical relationship for the time being. Is there anything he misrepresented that I should be concerned about?"

"No," she says simply. She thinks again, not for the first time in her life, not just anyone would be able to be a lawyer's daughter; this is the kind of questioning that might do them in.

"Okay, great. Did you have a chance to ask him if he'd like to go to the Reds game in August?" He turns his head to look at her and his tone of voice indicates nothing from the previous conversation.

"No. But I will," she agrees. "I'm sure he'll love it if his embarrassment has ceased. And if his grounding is over."

"I'll talk to Carole in a few days," he reassures.


	16. Day Fifty Seven: If You Have a Minute

_**A/N: **This part is very different from the rest of this story in two ways. Firstly, it's LONG. Grab a snack and take a bathroom break before you read it. Secondly, it's not as event-driven as the rest. So I'm sorry for anyone that's looking for major plot movement-this one is more of a character-growth study. The chapter title is from the song **Somewhere Only We Know **by **Keane** even though the song has very little to do with this part (as usual). Major thanks to **Jen **(wants2beawriter) for her betaing, document transferring, and encouraging. Because I needed all those skills in spades for this thing. _

_**Disclaimer:** I'm bored with this nonsense and will be discontinuing it. I don't own Glee, anything affiliated with Glee, or any of the songs/lyrics I use. End of story. _

* * *

><p><strong>Day Fifty-Seven: If You Have A Minute, Why Don't We Go…<strong>

Kurt sets the cup down in front of Finn and Finn looks up at his stepbrother, the confusion clearly displayed all over his face. Like, the only reason he agreed to come was because he pushed his way into this. He feels creepy enough doing it, because it's like maybe he should've brought binoculars (so _what_ if that's what Rachel said, too.) Then again, that was before he thought anyone would be setting a_ warm_ drink down right in front of him. Especially when it's approaching ninety degrees outside; they aren't sitting outside, but that seems kind of beside the point. At least the drink is a distraction from feeling like an idiot.

"Okay, so…" Finn says. Really, they just have these smoothie things he was thinking he would get if he needs a drink. He's still hoping they won't be here that long. (And he's kind of hoping he _will_ be here that long because Rachel wants to go to the museum today. The _museum_. And _she's_ the one going on all the time about knowing your audience.) "…what is this?"

Kurt has taken his time like, arranging his shorts or whatever, swiping crumbs maybe? He's sitting now and pulling the cup to his lips.

"This is steamed milk. With some flavoring added. I thought you would like Strawberry."

Finn takes a small sip (like, really – because more than that would burn his tongue even worse and must they serve that shit at like, boiling point? It seems ridiculous for a drink to be 800 degrees or so—excessive? He thinks that might be what he's getting at, but it doesn't matter because this is just in his head and … whatever) and it doesn't taste terrible. It's kind of like hot chocolate and Nesquick. Maybe it's Nesquick for grown-ups, so maybe if they have stuff like that, growing up isn't all bad.

He could see himself drinking this on his way to work. Then he can pretend its coffee and not have to actually drink coffee because it tastes gross most of the time.

"….and he thought it was pretty funny, in spite of your crude manner."

"What?" Finn asks. It was kind of a mistake to even ask because he sees Rachel emerging from the bathroom (she has a hand-washing ritual in public, especially because there's a Danish on the table he thinks she plans on eating) and greeting Jesse with a smile. Jesse hadn't been sitting at the table before when she left. Her mouth is immediately moving, explaining. He wants her to be a little more…well… quiet. _Angry?_ He shivers. He doesn't actually wish an angry Rachel on anyone. He covers the shiver with a wiggle in his chair and turns his attention back to Kurt.

"…the popsicle thing. He explained what you meant but I'm afraid I didn't understand until he tried to show me."

Okay, there is _no_ warning and Finn sprays his fresh half-mouthful of milk _everywhere_. He can feel Rachel's eyes on him and he closes his eyes 'cause yeah…he knows. It isn't just his _size_ that makes him stand out in a crowd.

Kurt surveys him evenly, and Finn knows even after he's done wiping his face off, he's not going to be the first one to say anything.

"Sometimes it's really hard to have a serious conversation with you," Kurt deadpans. "Can we pretend to be adults here for just a second? This is an important revelation."

Finn remembers just a second ago when he could see himself drinking strawberry milk and pretending it's coffee. _Adults_. He sits up a little more in his chair. Maybe it would be easier if he had actual coffee but one – gross. And two – that's not his and Kurt's _thing_.

"So we tried to take this serious step in our relationship and…and…it's like it didn't _fit," _Kurt says, dropping his eyes to the lid of his cup as he drinks more milk. He sets the cup down slowly, watching Finn as he does.

Finn frowns. This has got to make the top ten of things he never actually wants to discuss with Kurt. Like…sex stuff is already _awkward _and it's just worse when you go from one-sided love-type feelings to being family members. Plus, given his experience level with all of it, he'd rather just not know.

And what if this conversation happens again eventually, only it's Rachel talking to Kurt about how _they _ don't fit? That would be pretty terrible.

"I don't…"

"What if you and Rachel didn't… you said the physical things aren't awkward. But what if they _were_? What would you do? What should _I _do about it?" Kurt whispers, his doubt plain on his face. And it's like a stage whisper or something, not an actual whisper because The Lima Bean is crowded for a Saturday morning and they wouldn't be able to hear each other.

Finn's face crumples when he thinks about the words. "Aw, man, I _really_ don't want to talk about this. I mean…I'm already worried enough about all that stuff without it being _weird_ and talking to you about this is _totally_ weird. No offense."

"Well _obviously_ you have more experience than I do with it because I _heard_ you guys making out the other day and…well…"

Finn sighs and shakes his head. "That was more than making out, dude." He drops his head and rubs the back of his neck, voicing his next words to cover up what he had kind of just said because he didn't want to get into it—_any_ of it. "I just really, really want to be done talking about my sex life. I mean, Mom still acts all weird around me and…and me and Rachel had that kinda awkward talk and…"

"Well, me and Blaine had really awkward more-than-talking okay?" Kurt bursts out. "Do I just… do I need to_ wait_ for it to get good instead of being strange? Or…I don't know, Finn, it just doesn't feel right. I know I already asked but you didn't really give me a solid answer. How do you _know_ it's okay to keep going? My dad told me once not to just throw myself around and how do I know…"

Finn can't help it. His eyes wander over to Rachel while Kurt's talking. She's animated and bright, chattering away at a million miles an hour to this guy who she should, for all intents and purposes, hate. (_Finn_ hates him.) But apparently the history there is enough for Rachel; she's so special she just _forgives_. And she is treating Jesse like an old friend who didn't egg her or use her or throw her away. He _knows_ she's being careful. But she's also just being _herself_. When she's being herself, he thinks he can be _himself_. Is that what he should say? He turns back to Kurt to hear the end of Kurt's rant.

"… and if you say she completes you, I'm going to _gag_."

He leans forward and huddles over his cup of…_coffee_…and speaks in a low voice. "If you don't feel it, you don't feel it." Finn shakes his head. "I can't say it without sounding like a stupid pop song and I kind of already went _there _when I wrote one…then don't _do_ it if you don't _feel_ it."

Kurt sighs. His words are quiet, like a _real_ whisper. "Sadly, I don't think that I do."

Finn takes a long drink—like so long he finishes the milk entirely in about four uncomfortable swallows—to cover the fact he doesn't know what to say. He sighs and wonders if he's always going to be the guy who, like, does one thing and then gets stuck on it. But the song kind of fits here, too; _almost_ as well as it fit the reason he wrote it.

"Well, you can't always be pretending," he finally says. He shrugs. "That's not a good way to live." He starts to stand up. "I'm gonna get a muffin or something. Are you hungry?"

Kurt tips his cup back and forth a little before he shakes his head and mumbles his thanks.

Rachel is standing at the counter, too, which may or may _not_ have been half his motivation for going. He stands next to her and looks at her but he doesn't touch her as she studies the menu.

"Did you need to get another drink after you spit out your last one?" She asks quietly, but he can hear the smile in her voice.

He shakes his head and breathes out half of a chuckle. "No. I had to come get another drink after Kurt told me he didn't like fooling around with Blaine and asked me for my _opinion_."

Her eyes are wide and disbelieving as she looks over at him and puts her hand on his arm. "Are you serious? What did you say?"

And he knows this isn't her doing that thing she and Kurt both do where their questions speed up because they're more interested in the gossip. She is looking up at him and waiting for him to answer because she's interested in the subject and in how _he_ handled something. Maybe he should make her another Team Finn t-shirt, because she's obviously on his side, on his team. And he's not sure, all of a sudden if he's been as supportive as he should be.

He never even _asked_ if she wanted him to come while she talked to Jesse, like, just for support. He told her he was coming because he hates that guy and he's always going to be mad about what Jesse did to her the first time and…and maybe she needs someone in her corner and he didn't even think to ask.

He opens his mouth to answer her, but then they're called forward in line and he thinks he might've ended up buying Jesse an oatmeal cookie (on accident, okay? He just pays for Rachel's order and his own together and ignores the look she gives him, even though it's really hard to ignore because it's not _angry_. It's that little smile she gets on her face when he does something nice for her without being asked).

Before she walks away, though, she turns toward him and the look is more expecting than anything else. "So?"

"I told him he shouldn't do that unless he feels good doing it," he admits. He looks over his shoulder and sees Kurt at the table, just looking around the coffee shop. He shakes his head. "Really I think he should just go talk to Blaine 'cause I don't want to talk about sex with him."

She tilts her head. "Why not? Isn't it natural to ask a friend's advice?"

He shrugs. "Yeah, maybe but I don't want to share, first off. And second, you're kinda the only friend I talk to about that these days. It's better that way."

She puts her hand on his arm. "I'm the only one you talk to about that?"

He leans down so she can hear him better when he says the words softly. "Yeah. I mean, that's true for a lot of things. But you're the only one I want to _do_ any of it with so you're the only one I talk to about it. Except with my mom a couple days ago after she caught us and made me…"

She steps toward him and goes up on her toes to kiss his cheek, ignoring his reference to the embarrassing incident from three days ago. "Well, Kurt probably knows more than you want him to, then. But the details…those are definitely ours. And I agree it's the best course of action for him to speak with Blaine rather than one of us." She looks over her shoulder and sees Jesse, kicked back in his chair and obviously watching their interaction. He's looking around a little, too, but the couple directly in his line of sight is garnering most of his attention.

"I probably ought to get back," she says.

He nods and lets his hand trail down her arm. "So it's…it's going okay then? You're having fun?"

She smiles widely. "Yeah. I think…well, I think Jesse and I are better as friends and I think he's aware of that. We're mostly talking about that play I'm doing. Apparently, he was in a theater troupe that did _Into the Woods_ so he's giving me pointers."

He knows his face falls as he tries not to make fun of _that guy_ because honestly –who even does shit like that? Jesse St. James, that's who. (And maybe Rachel sometimes, but she means well when she does it.) But his girlfriend wants to be friends with the douchebag, so that means he's going to keep his mouth shut because…well, basically he won anyway. He's the one taking her home (if Kurt leaves first because she rode here with Kurt…he thinks maybe Kurt should go anyway so this could be a double win if Kurt works stuff out with Blaine _and _Finn gets to take Rachel home _the long way_) and that's that.

"What?" She whispers.

"Nothin," he says simply, his fingers pinching at the loosely curled ends of her hair. "Go back to him and I'll get back to Kurt." She frowns, but nods as he lets her go. He grabs the plate with his muffin and she takes the bag with her cookies and they part ways and to him, it feels kind of wrong but he's being supportive instead of just following her.

He chats briefly with Kurt and his brother looks more uncomfortable as they talk, finally quietly deciding Finn is right and he needs to just go talk it over with Blaine. Kurt's basically asked Finn twice now how to figure out what he's feeling and Finn's at a loss, because the main thing about his feelings for Rachel is how once they started, they never really stopped. He always _knew_ how he felt, he just didn't always feel like he should act on it. His confusion was never about the feelings themselves, really. It's a totally different situation.

But after Kurt's gone and he sees Jesse and Rachel _still_ talking (Rachel has picked up one of Jesse's business flyers from the box she was bringing him. He's still trying the show choir consulting business and her dad had helped him get copies made for advertising…then the box had been shoved in the back of her closet after Nationals were over. Returning them had been her sole purpose in meeting with the ass—the guy—today), he thinks maybe not only _Kurt's_ situation is different, but his situation with Rachel _now_ is different, too.

Forever ago, they sang that Madonna song about knowing what it feels like for a girl. And maybe it's the tethered thing or maybe it's just because he knows her really well, but he knows Rachel is relaxed and happy chatting with Jesse and she will not still feel that way if Finn's acting jealous. She's had to _try_ to feel happy around Jesse, and he knows she doesn't have a lot of friends so the ones who she lets in really have almost an unlimited pass.

And he can't really blame St. Assface for cashing in on that because he's totally doing it too.

So maybe he should just keep this as simple as possible for Rachel. Everything about her is dramatic, so maybe he should just kind of be the calm and reasonable one. And he knows she loves _him_, so it's not about any of that any more. It used to be, but it doesn't _have_ to be.

But he still doesn't know how she would get home if he left _left_. He just doesn't want to sit inside like a stalker. Plus he has the new Beastie Boys in his car that Puck kind of ordered him to listen to, like, three weeks ago and he hasn't done it yet. _He's been busy, okay?_ But now he'll be busy waiting so it seems kind of perfect.

Rachel looks up at him when he squeezes her shoulder as he passes by and he's so tempted to lean down and kiss her but…well, he kind of marked his territory at Nationals and it had major consequences and he doesn't need to do it again now. She knows and he knows and… that's plenty. Who cares what Jesse or anyone else thinks anymore? So he squeezes her shoulder and then smiles when she looks up.

"So…Kurt left. I'm gonna take off, too."

"Oh," she says, the word sounding surprised. She smiles at his smile though and reaches her hand up to touch his. "Okay."

"See ya around, Jesse," he says easily. Her eyes widen in surprise because he's not faking or anything. His hand is just resting on her, not squeezing or heavy or…it's just _there_. Kind of like he has been—just in the background. He was there for _Kurt_, not necessarily to spy on her; she's pleasantly surprised and thought it would be way more distracting. He looks back down to her.

"Call me later, 'kay?"

She nods and lets her hand slip away from his when he walks away and out the door without looking back.

"So…you two are back together, right?" Jesse asks, looking puzzled and letting his gaze drift to where Finn was just walking.

"Yes," she says quietly. She wasn't looking forward to the part of the conversation where he asks for _details_ but she knew it would be there somewhere.

"He's a lucky guy," Jesse says simply. "Hopefully he'd go to New York for you, too. Like I did."

She sighs and looks down at the lid of her coffee cup. "We haven't discussed it. He knows I'm going but he's got his own plans to make."

"Everyone from Vocal Adrenaline has already split up, you know. Even the couples we thought would stick."

Rachel drags her eyes up to his. She appreciates what he's saying; her dads have done what they term 'playing the devil's advocate' a couple of times, arguing for the infrequency of a lasting high school relationship. It's safe to say she's heard all this before.

She drags her shoulder up awkwardly and finishes the last sip of her iced tea. "I'm sure," she says. "And I honestly don't know what the future holds beyond high school for me, in that sense. I know who I am, I know where I'm going, and I know who _he_ is; at the moment, that's all I need to know."

He leans forward and gives her hand a small squeeze, but he releases her quickly so she knows he didn't mean anything by the gesture.

"Didn't you say Kurt was your ride here this morning?" He asks.

She lets in a deep breath and looks around. It's just shy of lunch time and apparently there is a normal post-brunch lull in the mid-sized shop because there are really less than half a dozen tables occupied as opposed to how full it was when they arrived. "Yes, he was. He must've been terribly preoccupied," she says with a shrug. She's already reaching for her phone to text Finn. "I probably ought to see if I can catch a ride with Finn."

She doesn't miss his snort and quick cover-up (she's been around those 'other' boys enough this summer, mixed with just a touch of Puck's influence; she's well aware of the entendre that just escaped her lips), but doesn't comment because well… since their experience with being caught three days ago, their alone time has been at a premium. She never realized how much time they spend at Finn and Kurt's house until she became monumentally uncomfortable there. Until that feeling fades –for all three parties involved—they're trying to find somewhere else to make out. So she doesn't respond because she wasn't speaking in code; she was being literal. She doesn't want to get into all that with Jesse, even if he's actually been quite respectful of her relationship with Finn during their conversation.

"If he's already gone, I don't mind taking you; I'm surprised he would leave you to fend for yourself, though. Hovering was always more his specialty if I recall correctly."

"I don't think he has a preference one way or the other, as long as I actually _get_ home," she utters with a frown. She's barely set her phone back on the table when she sees Finn's reply about being in the parking lot. He gives an excuse about the acoustics in his truck (straight from their conversation when Puck gave him a stack of _physical_ compact discs to listen to several weeks ago) and she can't fight her smile. He _waited_ for her. "And he's actually waiting patiently outside as we speak."

"I'm glad you're so happy, Rachel," Jesse says quietly. "Even if I wish things were a little different."

Her breath catches and she looks at him cautiously; is this the part of the conversation where they revisit ancient history and she has to try again to stamp out the feelings of rejection, inadequacy, and betrayal from what he did?

"If things were different I might not be so happy," she says with a shrug. Her tea is empty, Finn is waiting even if he told her to take her time, and she reaches for the light sweater she'd hung from the back of her chair while the room was crowded and the temperature was up. She shoots him a large smile. "I hope your business is successful. Or you get that reality show about stage performers."

He smiles back. "Thank you. I'm sure Facebook will let you know."

(She doesn't tell him she hasn't looked at Facebook in over three months and … well… she blocked him after he egged her anyway.)

He stands up when she leaves the table, like they're in some sort of a fancy restaurant, and it feels slightly _weird_. Even when Finn took her to Sardi's, and stood when she did, she had to fight the urge to ask what he was doing. There's only one context in which she wants to unseat people, and _that's not it._

They exchange the world's most awkward hug and she tries _really_ hard not to skip out the door because she and Finn have the whole afternoon before them with nowhere to be and no one to meet up with and…for all the activities she's planned this summer,this freedom is possibly the best thing in the world.

True to his word, he's sitting in his truck with his head tipped back and his eyes closed, listening to the rock music at a medium volume (she's glad he's taking her concern for his hearing to heart—she knows he even sometimes wears earplugs when he messes around on the drums now). The only sign he's really even awake is his hand drumming on his thigh and his foot tapping on the floorboard. She doesn't bother with ceremony – she yanks open the driver's side door and climbs in right on top of him.

He smiles as his hands slide up to her waist, careful not to move her clothes too much since the driver's side door is still wide open, and his voice is surprised even as he lazily opens his eyes.

"Well that didn't take long."

"Mmm," she murmurs, letting her fingers brush through his hair. His eyes dropped closed again 'cause he loves that (and she knows, that's why she's doing it). "Well… I thought of something important when you said you were waiting for me. And thank you for waiting for me."

"No problem…and what's important?" He asks, reaching around her just a little, taking his hand off her for just long enough to turn the music down even further so they can talk.

"We don't have anything planned 'til tonight," she says simply. "And if Kurt and Blaine talk this afternoon…well…"

Finn sighs. "Yeah. I think they might break up," he says. "I don't know. It's none of my business."

"Well, Kurt's been talking to you about it so that makes it your business," she says gently. "But at the same time, I think we should focus on other things since their relationship isn't in _our_ control."

She's kind of grinding against him. He doesn't know how to break it to her that the _other things_ aren't in _his_ control either. It's been three days since she wasn't really allowed to finish giving him head—it's safe to say he's been a little…tense about it. The grinding isn't helping.

"Well, what _is_ in our control?" He finally manages even though he has a pretty good idea what she's thinking.

She gives him a long but small kiss before she turns and drops herself next to him in the seat. He groans as he pulls the door closed because… well, technically he's still clothed and everything but he basically just flashed the people two parking stalls over as they were getting out of their car.

"Well, today's plan was to visit Lovers' Lane."

He frowns. "I think I've heard of that… like… my grandparents live by it in Akron."

She laughs out loud. "Well, that won't work. But I wasn't thinking the specific location, necessarily." She drops her voice down. "Do you know somewhere we could go?"

Once upon a time, she took him to a spot out at Twin Lakes Reservoir and she sang a prayer. This is not _quite_ the same thing, but they were alone. He's guessing they would be alone now. "Yeah, I know somewhere we could go."

She slides her hand over his thigh and leans up to kiss his cheek. "Then let's get there; I have some unfinished business with you."

He's driving and all, so he can't, like, do much back. But he's pretty sure he has some unstarted business with her once the car isn't moving forward.


	17. Day Sixty Five:I Need a Vacation Tonight

_**A/N: ** Huge thanks to **Lizzie** for the idea of going to the zoo; apparently I can even make that sweet prompt dirty. Oh, yeah. ** Reminder: this story overall is rated M. Specifically for suggestive dialogue like this. **Thanks to **Janine** and **Laura** for the handholding/betaing as well. You three rock my socks. Well, really, all the Fildos and people I chat with on the regular do. And thanks for the PMs, reviews, and ask box comments on this story. I hope you all enjoy - and I love reviews so... I'm just sayin'._

_**Special Mention: **The quote Rachel uses is from **Lao Tzu. **The song that gives the chapter its title and plays at the end of the song is **Hold It Against Me **by **Britney Spears. **Shut up, I love her._

* * *

><p><strong>Day Sixty-Five: I Need a Vacation Tonight<strong>

Rachel drags her teeth over her lip uncertainly and … he's wound so tight anymore just the sight of that (and barely a sight 'cause they're walking so he's generally got his eyes forward and thank God if she's pulling shit like that) makes him feel a little edgy. It's a little cooler today because it's rained again the last couple days and there are still some low clouds clinging to the sky and… well, okay. She was probably right if they wanted to do something to cheer Kurt up a little. She starts her rehearsals tomorrow and he starts football camp and it's kind of their last chance, but it's also their first chance 'cause Kurt's been laying low the last week or so.

Selfishly, he doesn't totally mind when his brother bails.

"What's up?" he says softly, taking her hand in his and pulling her against him a little as they keep walking slowly forward.

"He's not okay," she says quietly, watching Kurt. He's walking ahead of them with a blue puff of cotton candy in his hand. (He insisted it was a zoo tradition, but they have yet to see him eat any of it. He's just kind of petting it.)

"Yeah… I mean, it's kind of disturbing. That's not a _dog_ or something. Do you think he's gonna try to _keep_ it?"

Her lip falls out from under her teeth and she lets out a short laugh. "He is _not_ bringing that in my car."

"He's just sad. He probably will be for a while. I mean…I know you guys have lots in common but _you _don't let anyone else see you sad; Kurt does 'cause he kinda likes the attention in some ways."

"That's sort of a terrible thing to say," she whispers, her grip faltering in his a little.

"It's just how he is. I'm not trying to be _mean_. I just don't get how the zoo is… like… a happy place."

She points to their right at the aquarium they're strolling past. Kurt had mentioned something about the colors and the 'fluttering' at the Butterfly Pavillion so they're headed in that general direction, but they probably won't be there 'til next week at this rate. "Fish are happy. Finding Nemo?"

He shrugs. She should know animated films aren't really his deal (CGI is generally pretty cool, but he prefers it if something—anything—is blowing up). She _does_ know.

"Hey, Kurt!" She calls brightly. Kurt is about four steps ahead of them and Finn's kind of flashing forward. Is this what it's like to take kids to the zoo? Like you stay behind and just watch them explore the world up ahead of you?

_Weird_. If it were the first time he'd thought about that, he might be more freaked out but he shrugs it off. Kurt turns around to acknowledge Rachel, walking backward.

"Yes?"

"Fish?" They're at the far corner of the aquarium building now but she points anyway.

Kurt grimaces a little and shakes his head. "No. We can stop on the way back, perhaps?"

….and she's back to biting her lip as she pulls her map out and Finn thinks he might die from wanting to bite her lip _for_ her. So he jogs up ahead to Kurt.

"Explain why this is your secret favorite place again?" He asks. He's doing it just a little to be annoying (he's settling pretty well into the brother thing, he thinks) but mostly because he still just doesn't get it.

"Your mother told me an emu tried to peck you during a trip to the zoo once," Kurt murmurs. "Maybe that's the reason for your aversion?" Kurt looks over at Finn. "And how does one manage to hate _both_ the zoo _and_ cotton candy?"

"Okay, so first off, blue food is _not _normal. Second, it's just…it's gross. Some things shouldn't melt in your mouth, okay? We don't have to have this conversation again."

Kurt shakes his head. "Yes, well; I certainly don't want to get Rachel going with the regards to sugar intake again. She seems to think just because she threw herself into exercise when you two broke up and she didn't eat for three weeks that I should just—"

"… what?" Finn asks. "Whadd'ya mean she didn't eat?"

Kurt sighs. "We do not need to discuss any of this considering it's _over_. Most people rely on dietary staples like ice cream to get through tough breakups. Rachel doesn't ever eat those things to begin with, so she didn't."

"She eats ice cream," Finn mumbles. Then he wonders if that's one of those things only _he's _supposed to know.

"Well, neither here nor there… we're _here," _Kurt says. He gestures to the butterfly conservation center. Finn stops and glances up at the building with windows on top and a red-trimmed base and frowns.

"Butterflies…well…I don't really like those either," he says quietly. He looks over his shoulder at Rachel, who stopped in the middle of the walkway and pressed her phone to her ear. (He's assuming it's her dads, who were less than thrilled with this threesome taking a 'long' car trip to the Toledo Zoo. Apparently when you're seventeen, seventy miles or so is _long_.)

"Do you like _anything_?" Kurt says. He looks over at Rachel and rolls his eyes. "They're calling her _again_? We've barely even been here for an hour."

"I just… like I don't dare hold them, y'know? It's different, why I don't like them. I'm afraid I'm going to hurt them or something."

Kurt sighs and really—who would've thought Finn was capable of a metaphor? Well, he's capable of thinking, but not necessarily capable of expressing. This time, though, his meaning is pretty clear. "She's not that fragile," Kurt replies. "And neither am I. I'll _be_ fine. Plus…these are rare butterflies. You don't get to hold them."

Finn gave a small smile. "I think she wants to stop here for that picnic lunch thing." He points to the garden. "Would that be all right with you?"

"I still can't believe her dads did that," Kurt grumbles. "Don't they think we can feed ourselves?"

Finn shrugs as Rachel strolls up to his side and answers Kurt. "They think we can feed ourselves, it was just something they offered by way of a concession." She held up the canvas bag that held all their food. "Besides, they already felt this was too expensive given we paid our own admission and the cost of fuel to drive here. Is there something the matter with them providing lunch?"

Rather than listen to Kurt and Rachel gripe at each other anymore, Finn takes Rachel's hand and leads her through the butterfly building that sounds a lot more entertaining than it actually is, even though Rachel and Kurt talk about the conservation efforts the zoo makes throughout their lunch.

They wander around and ooh and ahh (the surprise of the day is how much Rachel loves polar bears; she stays in the Arctic Encounter the entire time Kurt wants to see the Crawl Space—the bug exhibit—which was the other huge shock of the day) and then they have to leave when the zoo closes in the early evening.

Finn's stepped up his workouts to get ready for football camp (starting tomorrow) and he's so tired from all of it that he falls asleep, awkwardly lying across the backseat, even after Rachel demanded he find a way to properly seatbelt himself into the small sedan.

Once Kurt is sure Finn's asleep, he mumbles to Rachel. "You know I'm surviving, but thanks for this all the same."

She turns her head toward him to offer a curious glance. "How would I know you're surviving?" She says simply. She turns the volume up on the radio, but fades the speakers to the back so that even if Finn weren't asleep, it would provide some sort of cover for their soft voices. "I know how difficult a breakup can be when you love someone."

He doesn't miss it when her eyes flick to the rearview mirror to look at Finn, nor does he miss the way she sighs just a little.

"I'm not certain I loved him," Kurt says. "Thus the problem."

Rachel sighs a little. "Well, no one can know for sure other than you."

Kurt groans. "Maybe I should've talked to you about this instead of the Not-So-Jolly Giant."

She shakes her head. "Of course you should have. You broke up with Blaine because you're not certain you love him?"

"Yes. _No_." He drops his head in his hands.

"You know, when you told me of the origins of your friendship with Blaine, it reminded me of a quote my dad loves. _Being deeply loved by someone gives you strength, while loving someone deeply gives you courage._ You said Blaine repeatedly urged you to have courage before you left McKinley and it made you feel strong. Though you didn't know it at the time, I think you might've been falling in love with him even then, Kurt. I certainly think you already have _now_."

There was a long pause; it wasn't silent because of the strains of Britney Spears echoing through the car (Finn's protests had echoed when he was awake, but the two Spears-lovers up front were totally okay listening now that he was sleeping because once he was asleep, it would take a slushy facial to wake him up), but it was _long_.

"And what am I supposed to do with that information _now_?"

Rachel thought about it for a second; her own breakup was totally different because of the circumstances. There had been no major confusion on either of their parts, honestly; they_ knew_ how they felt. The only option for her then was to win Finn back. She hadn't thought of any other possibility for quite a while and even then, had never been confused. She had gone from heartbroken to heartbroken _and_ resolved. She couldn't entirely sympathize with Kurt's predicament.

"That's the part you have to figure out," she says quietly. "I'm sorry I can't help you there."

"I shoved at least one meal a day down your throat—"

"—to be fair, that was usually _Mercedes_—"she cut in.

"—and all you can tell me is I'm on my own and to figure it out?" He asked dryly. "Thanks for your non-help."

She shakes her head. "Truthfully, the first decision you have to make is if you want to be with Blaine. And you _know_ it. Once you make that decision, you have other options. And I'll be here then."

"But _why_ would the physical stuff feel so awkward if we loved one another and it was merely expressing that love?"

"Even when you love each other, sometimes things like that are awkward," she admits quietly. "I just know when Finn laughs about _it,_ he's not laughing _at me_. He's laughing at the situation."

"Kind of like when you laughed at the emu story?" Kurt says, remembering Rachel's _huge_ laugh at their standing Friday night family dinner a couple nights ago (her first time really back since she and Finn had been…_caught_).

"Yes," she says.

"So how did you get over that? No offense, but you usually take things very personally and very seriously."

She looks back at Finn, still via the rearview mirror, and then smiles a little. "Well, really, Finn mentioned something Carole said as they were discussing the situation when we were caught…" she fumbles for the words a little, trying to find even a vaguely tasteful phrasing.

"…with your pants down?" Kurt asks; he knows what she's doing, but sometimes he wants her to get to the point.

"Technically, it was just _his_ pants," she corrects. She removes her hand from the steering wheel (which, given her several statements about the importance of grip on the wheel, makes him realize how thoroughly she just embarrassed herself) and presses it to her mouth. He shakes his head and motions for her to continue. "But neither here nor there, Carole apparently asked him what he had been thinking. Even in the retelling, he _laughed_ and I got upset. It wasn't until he explained his actual thoughts that I forgave him and, to some degree, I understood why it was a humorous situation."

"He told you what _he was thinking_? Like… while you were…"

She could hear the blush on his cheeks in his words and she felt oddly not as embarrassed as she probably would have two weeks ago. "Yes, he did. And the thought of him sharing any of that with his _mother_…well… it made me laugh too and I saw his point. He wasn't laughing at me because…well, let's just say he appreciates my talents and leave it at that."

"So it's not _weird_?"

"Not in the way you'd think," she admits. "How much information do you want?"

"Why did it feel weird when I did that?"

She swerves from her spot in the slow lane, pulling smoothly off the conveniently placed Findlay exit. Once they're in a McDonald's parking lot and the car is safely stopped, she turns to Kurt.

"I apologize, I can't continue that conversation _and_ drive."

Unfortunately, it's either a slushy facial _or_ stopping the car that will wake Finn up and she sees him moving out of the corner of her eye before he speaks.

"What's goin' on?" He asks, his voice thick and sleepy. She turns her head, barely able to see him by looking over her shoulder.

"Hey," she says softly. "We were just having a rather intense conversation."

"Like…like a _fight_?" He asks. He has to unbuckle one of the two seatbelts before he can sit up.

"No," Kurt says sharply. "Let's not _finish_ the conversation right now. This is embarrassing."

"What conversation?" Finn asks. He's rubbing at the corner of his eye.

Rachel sighs and shifts in her seat so she can look back and forth between the two boys. She knows she and Finn can talk openly about this; she knows she and Kurt can talk openly about it. She doesn't know if they can have the conversation in this particular trio, though.

"Well…" she begins. "Kurt was wondering what happened that made me able to laugh away any discomfort with our recent predicament."

"Oh…" Finn says, swiping a glance at Kurt and then looking back at Rachel; he means, like he's not totally going to die if he says it, but he's not going to watch the reaction either. Rachel is a safer place to look. "Like it was super awkward that my mom caught us but kinda funny I was thinking that would be the only thing that could calm me down?"

"What?" Kurt bursts out.

Finn looks over at Kurt, just a short glance. "You don't even _know_, dude. She's like… really, really good at that. And she…she just..." He sees Rachel drop her head down and he wonders if she's embarrassed. "Like it's not secret my girlfriend is amazing, okay? Stop acting surprised."

"So does that mean I… did I _do_ it wrong?" Kurt asks after a long pause.

Finn sighs. "Okay… nothing leaves this car—got it?"

Rachel looks at him doubtfully and Kurt looks like he's a combination between curious and…wishing he could push his fingers into his ears and chant.

"Finn, I'm not sure—"

"Rach, I just…he needs help, right? And well…I think it's gonna take both of us to help like this. So it sucks but…but if we're being good friends we should help. And it's not…you know what I like. You've already figured it out."

Rachel rolls her eyes. "It wasn't difficult." (Yes, she chose her words carefully.)

"It's not _easy!_" Kurt says, his eyes wide and his voice more forceful.

"Okay, well…I mean, I'm pretty sure it wasn't as awkward for him as it was for _you_," Finn says. "And there are like a thousand different things in your head when that's going on, but…"

"…but for me there are only a couple," Rachel interjects quietly.

"Like what?" Finn asks, his voice totally different and almost more… tender, maybe… than Kurt's ever heard it before. Kurt almost feels like he's intruding, but in a way he wants to hear Rachel's answer, too. He's just not going to ask for it as warmly.

"Like how I want _you_ to feel," she says. "I can tell by the way you move and the noise you make and…and so I just use that. So I think about how I want you to feel, physically. And sometimes I'm thinking about how, because I want you to only feel good, well… I think it just reminds me how much I love you. The rest of it is just…_mechanics._"

"So that's why you were okay with what I said, then." Finn puts his hand over where hers sits on the console between the front seats. "'cause I told you how good it feels. Like… beyond good."

"Well, yes. It's very flattering to know how I can make you lose control." She bites her lip and looks down a little shyly. It's so easy to forget there's a third person in the car with them when he looks at her like that and talks to her with that low voice. She knows he hasn't told Kurt about the mailman thing, in any sense of the title, and she doesn't want to give too much detail. "And it's especially appealing to know you think I have talent."

Kurt snorts a little and looks out the window before looking back at the couple. In a lot of ways, they're nauseating. But truthfully, they're one of the few examples he has of a clearly loving relationship. So perhaps what he was expecting for his own potentially loving relationship has been skewed.

"Talent _and_ no gag reflex," Finn says simply, giving her a joking smile. Rachel scoffs, but she's laughing as she does. "I mean…" he looks over at Kurt. "So mom asked me what I was thinking when Rachel was ….doing stuff. And I couldn't even keep a straight face."

"Well…what _were_ you thinking about? I mean…was this the _first_ time?"

Finn and Rachel shook their head at the same time, but it was Finn who spoke. "No, it wasn't the first time. _Or the last_." He squeezed her hand. "But I mean… all I can really think about is keeping it together. And.. okay, y'know how the guys talked about thinking about Coach Bieste last year when they needed to…_cool off_?"

Kurt isn't sure he likes where this is going. That was derogatory at the least, but was also not something he could relate to. "…yes…"

"Well, I didn't think of her specifically 'cause I… just _no_…but nothing was working and so I thought seeing my mother might be the only thing that could cool me off enough. There was this new tongue thing and…just…" His eyes slip closed. "So anyway, then mom walked in and it kinda freaked me out."

"It's…you need to _try_ not to …"

"Well, sure. Then it's _over_ and…well, it's _so_ good. I don't want it to be over too fast." Kurt does _not _miss the way Finn's eyes slide to Rachel and he gives her a little bit of a smirk. "Girls don't really have that exact problem."

"What do you—_oh_." Kurt cuts himself off when he realizes both what Finn means and that Rachel is laughing. Finn is _teasing_ her about something? "So…is giving supposed to be as fun as…but what if giving wasn't fun?"

Rachel just shakes her head. "If you were looking for something emotional, it's not going to work that way. You were asking a question rather than…" she swallows a little a shrugs. "You were asking, rather than telling, how _you _feel. If you're showing how you feel, then it's pleasurable in its own way."

"So I need to go into it just thinking I love him? But what if that's not true?" Kurt asks, his confusion more pronounced than ever.

"I already told you, then don't do it," Finn says simply. He shakes his head. "Like on one hand, I don't want to know but did, like… I mean did _he_…"

Kurt just shakes his head.

"Maybe that's part of the problem," Rachel says. "Did he _want_ to?"

It takes Kurt a while to answer. "Yes. And he definitely didn't want to break up instead."

"_That's_ when you broke up?" Finn asks doubtfully. He huffs out a breath; up until this very moment, he wasn't sure there was a more painful way to break up than the ones he'd been through. Now he knew that was wrong, because breaking up right after sex would be…just a total fail. No matter what kind of sex it was.

"Yes," Kurt says. "It just sort of…happened that way."

Rachel gives Finn a sad look and he knows…well, he knows what she's thinking and what she's feeling because that's how it works. That's how _they_ work. He slides his hand into hers a little more so he's actually holding onto her instead of just kind of touching fingers with her.

"I think it's for the best, though," Kurt finally adds, doing anything to overtake the silence in the car. "Because at some point, I'll be ready to have this conversation and give all the salacious details as you two are doing and…"

"It's 'cause it's basically the hottest thing ever," Finn jokes. Rachel squeezes his hand in the not-friendly way, but he thinks maybe she just doesn't understand what he's going for. He has _got_ to get away from the super serious subject of breaking up 'cause even though all that's in the past for him, he still just can't handle thinking about it or being sad about it anymore…like, _ever_ if he has a say.

"Well, having _done_ it, I could argue—but I'm not sure I want to know exactly _what_ you're referring to as the hottest thing ever because I think the answer might be something about my best friend's tongue…or throat…and…" he shudders. "It's like she's our little sister and you're defiling her."

"Okay, no it's not. It's not like that _at all_." Finn narrows his eyes. "And both those things _are _hot on her and she _is_ the hottest thing that ever happened to me so…so you totally can't complain I answer that way."

"Yeah I can," Kurt says. He turns forward in his seat. "And in some ways I'm jealous but in more ways I'm just kind of _grossed out_."

Finn takes Rachel's hand and brings it up to his mouth to press his lips against it before he releases her entirely so she can turn forward and start driving again.

"Yeah well… if you'd like I can gross you out even more."

"I would _not_ like."

"I'm just sayin…we fool around enough. You're bound to walk in on something _eventually_."

Kurt turns to Rachel. "Turn him _off_. I mean that in every applicable way."

She sits up a little to meet Finn's eyes in the rearview. She winks. He licks his lips, but not like a normal replacing-moisturelick. She smiles wider.

"Next time I have to witness your lame flirting, I'm bringing the cotton candy dog. _In the car_."

Rachel frowns. "Bring the cotton candy dog in the car and I'll text you an inappropriate picture from the mall."

Kurt opens his mouth in a gasp and Finn laughs out loud.

"You took…you defiled _the mall_? What is the matter with you two?"

"You left us alone in a sleeping bag…what did you expect?" Finn asks.

Kurt sighs. "Obviously, I should've expected soft core porn in my inbox."

"Doesn't soft-core porn involve exposed breasts?" Rachel asks, her curiosity seeming genuine.

"Yeah, there's definitely none of _that_," Finn muses. "I would've remembered that. Was that the time I put my entire head up your shirt, though?"

"OH. MY. GOD." Kurt gasps, burying his face in his hands.

"I think it was, babe," Rachel says. She looks over at Kurt, and honestly she's _mostly_ teasing. "He's got some tongue-related gifts of his own, you know."

Kurt doesn't say another word, just flips the volume on the radio back up as he can get it without even looking.

_Gimme something good, don't wanna wait I want it now (na-na-now). Pop it like a hood and show me how you work it out..._

Apparently, this wasn't his day. Even the music was against him. It was going to be all inappropriate innuendo from here on out. And here he'd thought a day at the zoo would be good, clean, _innocent_ fun.

He had so much to learn.


	18. Day Sixty Nine:Doing Nothing For the Fun

**A/N: ** This part and title were inspired by **Stay (Wasting Time) **by **Dave Matthews Band**. It's basically one of my most ideal summery songs. Love that thing. Major thanks to everyone for the support as I talked through and about this part, and then mashed together about a thousand different ideas. Thank you for all the reviews, askbox comments and PMs as well. Keep 'em coming! We're kind of down to the wire with the summer story here... I just might have to do a followup of some kind.

**Disclaimer: **I don't own Glee or these characters or the song. Don't sue me.

* * *

><p><strong>Day Sixty-Nine: Doing Nothing For the Fun<strong>

She moves over him like water and all he can do is keep his hands loose on her hips while she moves and drives him totally crazy. He digs his fingers in a little when she raises herself up, balanced with just one hand over his shoulder, to brush her hair away from her face. When she puts her hand back onto his shoulder, her effort was wasted and her hair falls down all around their faces again anyway.

He laughs a little and she backs away just enough to look at his face, but she's so close she can't see anything but one part at a time. She's busy appreciating his smile as she breathes "What's so funny?"

"Your hair is _everywhere_," he says. He reluctantly pulls his hand off her hip to bring it up and brush her hair back over her shoulder. "It's like… like a wall or something. No one else can see us kissing."

She laughs, too. They had agreed to try and keep it as PG-rated as possible given they aren't technically allowed to be alone in the house and they aren't technically _alone_; Kurt's around somewhere.

It means his hand hasn't even strayed up her shirt, and even though that's not his _favorite_ part of making out, it also kind of sucks when it doesn't happen, especially because he's barely seen her since her play rehearsals started and his football camp started.

"Too bad we don't have more privacy than that," she agrees, because she's awesome. (And if she's being honest, she's missed the going-further-than-making-out as much as he has.) She leans down and kisses him again, dropping her full weight on him to take his face in her hands. His arms wrap around her waist and he presses her against him even more and he wonders if there's any way he'll ever feel like she's actually close enough to him. He doesn't think so. There's no _enough_. Like, it just doesn't really exist in his world. He'll always want more of her in the best way possible.

"… well, what would you do if we _did_?"

And then she pulls back and bites her lip and he can't _not_ keep kissing her…so he doesn't get an answer to his question. Then again, maybe the answer is in the way she kisses him back and her kisses are more forceful and her tongue is more certain, and her grip is a little tighter and roaming more—through his hair, on his cheeks, her thumb toying with his ear. He can't help it; maybe he's grinding against her a little, but she's wearing a skirt and she's straddling his lap and what the hell would anyone expect?

Besides, Kurt being home is like…well, it doesn't really count as supervision. He's "rededicated" himself to the "composition of a new musical that could take the West End by storm". Whatever all that means; Rachel and Finn both only care as far as being supportive, because it basically means they're home _alone_.

Her hand is under his shirt and his is under her skirt and just tickling along the edge of her panties as she tugs at his belt buckle. He groans into her mouth and she swallows it and he can't help it, okay? He's totally just _got_ to take her underwear off. It's like a _rule_. There are rules for being home alone with your girlfriend, and he thinks that's one of them.

She's not arguing, either. She lets him sit up then bend back over so she's underneath him on the couch (and he's actually grateful to Kurt for picking out a sectional that's long enough for him to do shit like that 'cause…well…duh. He's not thinking about it anymore right now, though) and he kind of manages to slide her underwear away from her body without messing up her skirt at all.

He's learned a few tricks on his summer vacation, and it's totally boss. He wonders what school could teach him that might possibly be better. At this point, he's even thinking football camp is a total waste and he should just spend the rest of his week—or the rest of the month—doing this exact thing. He's come a long way but he's still got plenty to learn. He's sure of it.

He thinks she breathes something about _evidence_ into his mouth, but it gets lost as she unbuttons his pants and slips her hand inside them, and he totally put her underwear in his pocket anyway because… for more than one reason. There are _lots_ of good reasons to do stuff like that, actually. Just never really enough opportunities.

And he thinks about the make-out room they had in the fort just behind this very couch. Maybe they should build that thing again. He wonders if his mom would be willing to make it a permanent thing. Then again, Kurt and Blaine have a lot of memories there too (because not all of that giggling was _innocent_, he's sure) so he wouldn't want to make his brother sad. He knows how it feels to miss someone, even if you feel like it's for the best and he doesn't want to make that worse.

He doesn't even realize he pulled back 'til she's looking at him with a little bit of a frown and her lips are all red and just…she's _hot_.

"What's wrong, babe?" She asks, her voice a little raw. He kind of smiles because the red, swollen lips, the low voice, her messed up hair—yeah, all his fault. (Except the part where play rehearsal is making her throat hurt a little.) Her hand is still kind of inside his pants and he's insanely turned on and looking at her like this just kinda makes it worse and he still just grins at her.

"I'm happy we're here," he says. "Like… really _really_ happy we're here. That's all."

He shows her how happy he is by skimming his fingers over her thigh. About the time her head falls back, he can hear his phone ringing clear from in his room. _Shit_. He usually keeps it in his pocket and with the ringer turned down, specifically because the ringtone Rachel put on there (like, last year if he's being honest) for the members of Glee club is _so_ loud (and that's like, half the people who call him—especially now that they're starting to get close to the start of school and everyone wants to know what Rachel's planning without actually trying to talk to _her_ about it). She claimed it would make it more difficult for him to miss calls about 'official business' back when he agreed to be her co-captain.

Well, y'know…him and anyone in a 200 foot radius who doesn't particularly want to _bust a move_.

He sighs and drops his head, pulling his hand out from under her skirt as he hears Kurt moving down the hall and the God-awful song getting _closer_. He takes her underwear out of his pocket and she takes her hand out of his shorts. And it's all just in the nick of time because Kurt walks into the room.

"Why in the hell is _Santana_ calling you?" Kurt asks, completely oblivious to the fact that he was interrupting anything. He slaps Finn's phone into Finn's outstretched palm. "And _why_ do you have that song on there?"

He can't understand the look Rachel's giving him 'cause he's never seen that one on her face before, but before he can ask, she's kissing his cheek and following Kurt back down the hall to explain the ringtone. He obviously missed the call and, while he doesn't entirely _care_ why Santana was calling him, he knows she wouldn't be doing it without a reason since she doesn't usually want much to do with him. He figures he ought to call her back, but even that doesn't explain why he's willing to go get ice cream with her. He only feels marginally better about it when Rachel agrees to tag along and she doesn't even seem that mad about it.

* * *

><p>Rachel is pretty cool about the whole thing, actually, and she just looks at the script for her play at another table while he talks with Santana. And basically, that's only a function of what's available to sit at. The ice cream place doesn't have that many tables, and most of them are barely big enough for two people. And it's one of those "family ice cream social" nights and they didn't know it, which means even though it's close to nine o'clock, the place is insanely crowded. They get Rachel set up with the play script and something about costuming at a table and then another spot like four down opens up so he can talk to Santana there. He's surprised it doesn't bug her more, but he played it pretty cool when she had coffee with Jesse, so maybe they're both doing better with stuff this time around.<p>

As usual, Santana gets right to the point. She _does_ notice Rachel and roll her eyes a little bit (whatever, he'd told Santana he wasn't willing to cut into the time he's spending with his girlfriend for this, it's not like it was secret Rachel would be there) but doesn't comment and that's good because he's already annoyed with the interruption. And really, Santana's whole thing is that her little brother—and _little_ is right because the kid is a total shrimp—is a freshman this year and she just wants Finn to help him out at football camp. Their dad is an ass who basically made the kid cry by saying Alex would never finish the camp without breaking a bone.

Finn doesn't have a problem with that; turns out Alex Lopez is a pretty solid kicker and they need one of those on the team since Kurt quit.

Regardless, their chat is short and…well, not sweet because that would be weird. Rachel gives Santana a little smile and says goodnight as the girl leaves and Finn moves to Rachel's table and offers to buy her some ice cream. She declines, citing 'vocal preservation'. He buys her some rainbow sherbet anyway.

"So…are your rehearsals going okay?" He asks. She nods and he sighs. _Could she give him any less to work with here?_ She hasn't said more than like two words about the play since rehearsals started three days ago. She eventually withdraws her hands from his and starts stirring her rainbow sherbet soup and it's really not that appealing of a color when it all blends together and that's saying a _lot_ coming from him 'cause he'll usually eat just about anything. That isn't blue. Or that isn't cotton candy. But just about anything _else_. "Rach…come on."

She sighs and looks up at him. "Sorry, it's just…this is the first time I've been in a production like this and the lack of progress is frustrating. I don't want to bore you with it all, though."

He watches her carefully for a minute, trying to figure out what to say. "It's not boring."

(That's sort of a lie. The subject isn't interesting; he could still listen to her talk about it for a really long time.)

"We've only been rehearsing for a few days and my throat is starting to hurt," she says simply. "They don't actually have microphones so we have to project everything and…I think I might not like community theater that much."

He raises his eyebrows. "Well…you have what? Like six more days rehearsing then your performances?" She nods. "So we won't talk for six days. I'll even sit in your room with all those humidifiers and stuff if you want me to. You're coming to my game Friday though, yeah?"

"As long as I don't have to go to Dayton for something with my stupid costume," she admits. "They want to make me wear a child's costume, but all the children's dresses are so heavy I would melt."

He can't really imagine anything worse than his football uniform in the heat, so he totally feels for her. He's actually taken three cold showers since practice ended and he still practically begged her to go with him for ice cream. And he's thinking about running in the sprinklers like a little kid when they get back to his house.

"You can't _melt_," he protests, muttering to himself more than to her. "There's not _that much _of you to begin with."

She laughs a little and shakes her head. "Well, I have to come up with some sort of alternative costuming solution, then. And apparently the director hates knee socks."

"Well, sure…the pervert probably just wants to see some leg," he says. He slides a bite of his ice cream into his mouth. "…so you're wearing a short dress then?"

She sighs again. "If I can find one that works with the cape."

He nods thoughtfully, trying really, super, and _extra_ hard not to think about her in a Goddamn cape (but probably for different reasons than how it's so hot outside.) "So I guess I'm just gonna have to be at every performance to be your bodyguard. 'Cause I'm pretty sure the only thing hotter than you _with _knee socks is you _without_ them."

Her smile spreads slowly across her face. "You'd better be at every performance for _other_ reasons."

"Oh, yeah? Like what?" He teases, laughing out loud when she shoots a not-amused look at him. "I'm kidding…I'm kidding. I get it. And I want you to come to both my games, too."

She frowns and tips her head to the side. "_Both_? I know about the one at OSU on Saturday but when's the other one?"

"The one next Friday night?" He says. He's scoffing 'cause _hello_. It's not the one at Ohio Stadium he's been talking about so much. It's the one against the Archbold Bluestreaks—the team they beat out last year. She can't _not_ be there if he's starting in that big of a game and of _course_ he's starting since this is his senior year. Honestly, he thinks the time off this summer totally helped him out when it comes to all that stuff because his practices have been going super well, even if he's only been at camp for four days so far.

But he can already tell by the funny look on her face something's up. And it gives him a funny feeling that makes him set his spoon down.

"What?"

She hesitates and she doesn't look at him and it's kind of pissing him off. This is _not_ them dealing with whatever the problem is. This is her not wanting to tell him there's a problem and she's never _not_ told him when there was a problem. She's actually really good at talking about her problems most of the time.

"That's opening night of my play," she admits slowly.

He sits back in his chair. Well that _sucks_. He's automatically trying to think his way around it, but nothing is coming to him. Neither of them can really be in two places at once. And he wonders what it means for the people who have agreed to support them both—parents, friends…_Kurt_.

'Cause those people can't exactly be two places at once, either.

"Well…" he breathes out. "We can figure it out. We _will_."

She shakes her head. "_How_? There's no way. Are you playing _in_ Archbold?"

"…yeah," he admits. That's kind of the bad part; if they were playing in Lima, it wouldn't be too far away to figure it out…but Archbold and Van Wert are over an hour apart.

"So you'll miss opening night," she says. She lifts her head up. "No big deal, right? I mean…I guess we'd better get used to this exact thing, right?"

He frowns. He doesn't like the sound of that…the sound of her _giving up_ before they've really even tried. "What's that supposed to mean?"

Rachel lets out a low, frustrated noise. "We have very different interests and at some point they're going to overlap. This will be the first of many." She shrugs a little, finally making eye contact with him. "What did Santana want?"

He shakes his head. She is _not_ changing the subject. "Just for me to help her little brother out at football camp 'cause he's kinda small and he's been having some problems. Whatever. Look, what did you mean we'd better get used to it? Like _not being there_ for each other? How do we just _get used_ to that? Isn't that kinda sad?"

"It is," she agrees and it seems like she's a little sad, too. So different from how the night started—and not in a good way. "But it's also a fact of life."

"Okay, so let's do this. We'll just…we'll just pretend."

She shakes her head. "What?"

"Well, like that's kinda what the whole summer has been, right? We've been staying kinda busy and pretending you don't wish you were in New York."

"I suppose you could define it that way," she agrees. She brushes her hair off her face and looks at him. "But I would say it's more about having an adventure and memories that we _share _instead of just wasting time."

"Okay, so…" his brain is spinning, trying to run ahead of his mouth for once. "So… we just have to clue each other into these other memories or these other things, right? When we miss stuff?"

She leans forward on her elbow, resting right in the middle of a picture of a girl in a red cape that he knows is a potential costume idea or whatever. "You mean like… like a dramatic reenactment?"

He frowns. She _would_ explain it that way. "I guess."

_How do you reenact a football game when you're just one guy?_

"Tell me more."

He laughs a little. "I-I uh…I don't know. We'll just have to find time to do it. What about Saturday before your play? 'Cause you know I'm going Saturday night. And Sunday afternoon."

"You'd really go both times?" She asks, her voice soft and her lips tipping up into a small grin.

"Yeah; I mean…I already told you I'm going to have to be like your bodyguard." He points to the magazine picture under her elbow. "Plus, it's not like I ever have anything to do on Sunday afternoons. They're usually kinda boring."

She bites her lips, her eyes shining. "Promise me."

His eyebrows shoot up and he reaches out to take her hand, even if he has to pull it off her face to do it. "Promise you what?"

"Promise me right now you'll let me give your Sunday afternoons a scheduling make over, if they're so boring."

And yeah, honestly, he thinks back a little bit to a cat calendar that was just sorta nuts when she did it. She's kind of weird about that kind of stuff. But at the same time, she gave his whole summer a 'scheduling makeover' or whatever, and it's been really fun. He'll take the cat calendar or glitter chart (technically that was Kurt, so he might be safe from that anyway) or whatever else if it means he gets more puddle jumping, more making timeouts, more water fights, more water parks, more trips to the lake…

…whatever. He's in. For all of it. As long as it's more time with _her._

"Yeah…okay. I promise."


End file.
